Brightest in the Dark
by M12R0R
Summary: When a Guardian and his Ghost find themselves in mortal danger within a Vex stronghold, the Guardian on his last leg throws his injured friend through a malfunctioning, ancient, Vex Warp Gate. Now alone, the Ghost now tries to find his friend in this strange new world, and maybe in the process finding a new Light in the shadow of a different, yet familiar, Darkness to fight back.
1. Chapter 1

**How's it going everyone, its Soul of Ragnarok here, bringing you a brand new story. Obviously, a RWBY x Destiny story, but I feel like you'll come to realize that this story goes off the standard path, that I've seen at least, of most RWBY fanfiction crossovers. I'm not going to go into detail, all that you need to know is that this story follows Destiny 2, shortly after Ghaul's defeat. As for the RWBY timeline, well, I'll let you see that for yourselves. Now, without further delay, Brightest in the Dark Chapter 1!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Untraveled Road

"This didn't go according to plan...whatsoever." The Ghost commented as it and its Guardian looked out upon the sea of Vex surrounding them and closing in on them. Only moments before did they feel as though they had the situation handled, just a few patrols of the cybernetic pawns throughout the entire Vex stronghold. Then suddenly in a few flashes of light, all the open space in the underground system was illuminated with their crimson optical lenses of the cybernetic beasts. Without a warning, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Minotaurs, Harpies, and Hydras all began to unload their weapons down upon the duo. On instinct, the Guardian, who was a Sentinel Titan, activated is Ward of Dawn, protecting him and his Ghost from harm. They, however, were now backed into a corner. "Last time we take any advice from Cayde for a raid."

"You think." The Guardian called out looking over his shoulder to where his Ghost uncloaked itself. "The ward can't hold forever, I'll keep it up for as long as I can. But after that..."

"Don't worry. I'll think off something." The Ghost reassured its Guardian as it looked frantically around. It looked for anything it could find, an opening in the Vex's lines, a possible escape route, anything it could find. Unfortunately, it was no use as it could find nothing. It then turned and looked at the wall behind them, noticing something peculiar about it. "Guardian, the wall!"

"What about it!" The strain could be heard in the Titan's voice as he struggled to keep the waning ward active.

"This wall is ancient Vex Warp Gate. Though I'm not familiar with their tech, I think I can activate it and get us out of here."

"That's grea-grr-wonderful! What can I do?!"

"Do what you Titans do best, defend." The Guardian nodded and released his hold on the Ward of Dawn. The bubble shield started to fall but it was immediately replaced by the Titan's Towering Barricade. The Vex continued to unleash their barrage at the Guardian, not even paying any real attention to the Ghost, who was getting to work hacking into the ancient technology. Though it was unfamiliar with it, the Ghost knew that he only had to get it opened for just a few seconds. In the meantime, the Guardian threw out a Voidwall Grenade into their vanguard. The grenade sent a blazing wall of purple flames across the subterranean floor. Several lines of Goblins mindlessly crossed over it and were immediately incinerated into violet ashes. Minotaurs, however, were slightly more intelligent and halted the Vex advance. Harpies flew down and the gust they created blew the void fire away. The flying cybernetic beasts unleashed their tendrils and fired their purple beams at the barricade. The energy absorbed into the the crystalline wall, causing cracks and fractures to form. Seeing he could not play the defensive game that much longer, he decided to do the other thing that Titans do best.

The Guardian spun around the corner of the barricade and drew his hand cannon, Bad News. He let loose rounds in the mid sections of several Goblins as they approached, killing them instantly. The Titan felt the ground shaking from under him and realized what was behind him. He spun around and grabbed hold of the Minotaur's arm as it tried to clothesline him. He followed the momentum of the cyborg's massive fist and was launched into the air. Using this to his advantage, the Guardian reloaded his hand cannon mid-air as the Minotaur below looked up while charging its explosive weapon. The Guardian dropped down and stomped out the massive Vex's eyes out. The Vex reeled back and the Guardian took the chance and punched through the glowing white liquid that congregated in its mid section. The Guardian pulled his fist out and the liquid poured across the his broad torso. The Minotaur fell and the Titan leapt over top of it and used its body as a make-shift barrier.

"How is it coming along over there, pal!" The Guardian called over to his Ghost. The Ghost stopped its scans to look over to its partner.

"I'm just bypassing its security systems now, estimated time till it opens is sixty seconds. Think you can hold out that long?"

"Don't you have any confidence in me?" The Titan spoke straight faced from a seated position as he cocked Baligant, his trusty shotgun.

"Confidence isn't going to get us out of this." The Guardian took a second to ponder his Ghost words as he tilted his head slightly and shook his hand back and forth.

"Ehh."

"Just shoot them, please."

"Can do." The Guardian rose up slightly to get a look at how the Vex were advancing. At least fifty Goblins and several Minotaurs were approaching from the cavern floor. On ledges all in the background were at least four Hobgoblins that set up their own sniper nests. Finally, behind the army of Goblins on the ground was a massive boulder that jutted up. Atop this was a Hydra that had three Harpies circling it, acting as extra shields to anything the Guardian had to offer. He took a moment to map out his plan and flipped over to his feet. He strapped Baligant to his back and swapped out for his arc auto rifle, Valakadyn. Using his thrusters, the Titan catapulted himself into the air towards the ledge on the wall where the first Hobgoblin was perched. The Vex was seemingly surprised that the Guardian came straight towards it. It leaned over the side and aimed the end of its line rifle into the Titan's visor. Acting fast, he reached up and forcefully ripped the Vex off its feet by its tail, which was in arms reach of the Guardian. It tried to fight but was no use against his raw strength. It fell head first and crashed into the ground below, it's head severing from the rest of its body. He pulled himself up and gained his footing on the ledge. The rest of the Vex, during this, we're doing their best to land a shot on him. He looked over to where the next Hobgoblin was perched and launched himself towards it. His thruster pack took him a good portion of the way. He got himself in range of the wall and kept himself moving by running along the rocks on its face. He swapped his auto rifle over to his right hand, which was on his side facing the Vex. He pointed his rifle down towards the Goblins and rained his arc rounds down onto them. The rounds scrapped the metal along the metal armor of the Goblins, but the arc properties of the rounds caused electricity to surge throughout their bodies. As he came up on the second Hobgoblin he redirected the rifle at its midsection. He unloaded the rest of the clip into it, causing it to explode in mechanical parts and Vex fluid. He landed on the second ledge and replaced the clip in Valakadyn. He sprayed across at the other Hobgoblin, taking this one out from range. The Hydra turned around and looked out at the Guardian. The Hydra sounded of with a deep, booming moan that signaled to the Harpies to attack. The three approached and again flashed their tendrils out at him. Knowing what was coming, he tossed a Supressor Grenade softly up at them. Not knowing what the device was, the Harpies fired their lasers at it, causing it to explode and zapped the power out from them. The Harpies shook violently as their tendrils lost all mobility and their eyes short-circuited. The Guardian swapped to his shotgun, preforming his own version of skeet shooting. All three Harpies fell and their parts now littered the cavern floor.

"GUARDIAN! I have the Warp Gate open! Time to move!" His Ghost called out from across the cavern, it's voice echoing all throughout. The Guardian face palmed as all the Vex that we're focus firing onto him redirected their attention from him back at the Vex Gate, and his unconcealed Ghost. "Uh-oh."

The Vex started their barrage toward the Ghost with haste. Ghost tried his best, passing under and over all passing energy shots. He was able to avoid all the fast paced rounds with ease, but failed to see the Hydra charging up its Torch Hammer turrets. The Hydra turrets were glowing with purple energy ready to burst, with its five eyes fixated on the little light. Just before it fired, its head was smashed into by an celestial purple shield. The Titan unleashed his Sentinel Shield and shoved its edge through the hull of the Hydra. The centipede-like cyborg started disintegrating into a purple glowing ash, but its core was melting down. The Guardian activated his thruster pack, flying forward as the Hydra exploded in a shower that spread over everything in the cave, covering the rest of the Vex in its fluids. The explosion gave the Titan an extra push, giving him the opportunity to launch forward in front of the next assault of Vex attacks. The Sentinel held up his shield, which was emanating with the Light's power, and took on all the incoming damage from the Vex. He was pushed back by the force at first, but caught some footing.

"Just give me a moment to plug in the coordinates. I'm going to teleport us right out of the cavern, then we hop in our ship, go back to the city, and we immediately hunt Cayde down for sending us here."

"Works with me bu-GAH!" The Guardian cried out in pain as a a sniper round from a line gun passed under his under his armpit and through his torso. He dropped his shield as the pain coarsed him, causing his chest to be overtaken with the assault of the Vex spraying him with their energy weapons.

"Guardian!" His life critical, he threw his shield at them in an attempt to kill off as many as he could. He managed to kill off the remaining Minotaurs but was left with an overwhelming swarm of Goblins, especially in his current state. He looked to his left where the shot came from. He saw that it came from ground level and the shot was taken by the first Hobgoblin that he had knocked of from its perch. Though it's head missing, this Vex proved for its species that time and time again they are an unstoppable force. He pulled out his hand cannon once more to finish off the sparking Hobgoblin. "It's all right. I'm here." His Ghost said as he flew from the gate to his side. "Give me a second, I'll get you hea-" a stray shot from a Vex Goblin hit Ghost directly in his reticle. The little light construct's body fell to the ground and dinked of the rocky surface. The Titan quickly grasped his small partner off the ground and looked to the portal. He tried to crawl towards it, cradling his downed Ghost in the meantime. The Vex continued to lay on fire into the injured Guardian. His vision started to blur as he felt the life start waning from his physical form. He looked down to his Ghost and back to the Warp Gate. He sighed reluctantly.

"Until we meet again in the Light, old friend." With all his remaining strength, the Titan lobbed his Ghost through the Warp Gate. It surged and the portal's power started to wane. He turned to the Vex and stared them down as they continued to march forward at him.

"Okay, you ugly bastards! Come on!" He roared forward as he drew his auto rifle and shotgun once more. He shot down the advancing Vex. The cyborgs chose not to fire their weapons any longer, as they knew they were victorious. He shot down the first few Vex, until his clip emptied. He pumped his shotgun one handed and shot down each approaching Goblin one by one as they tried to grab hold of him. He fired his shells until he had no more to let loose. The next Goblin back handed the Titan to the ground and stomped on him with its clamp like feet. The Vex leaned down, its cyclops-like lenses illuminated the Titan's visor as it ripped his helmet from his head. The chrome domed grey Exo with red glowing eyes stared the Vex down with an equally intimidating stare.  
"You like what you see, huh? Fine..." The Exo reached down to his belt and grabbed hold of the circular object. He activated his Magnetic Grenade and shoved it into the Goblin's eye. "...get a closer look." The last thing the other Vex saw was a flash of void energy from the grenade as it exploded once. Then it's second detonation damaged the frame of the Warp Gate, rendering it useless. The Goblins walked over to investigate and found nothing but the shattered remains of it's brethren and a caved in helmet of the Sentinel Titan.

* * *

It was a cool autumn day on the island of Patch. The leaves had just started their change from green to the beautiful shades that the fall season had to offer. Normally a beautiful sight, except when you are the one who gets stuck raking the falling leaves into piles for cleanup. And when I comes to living in a small cabin located in a small clearing in the forest. Unfortunately for a young blonde man, he was the one stuck with the task all by his lonesome. He murmured slightly under his breathe as he got to work. Hours went by, and he finally managed to clean up half his property.

"This is hopeless." He sounded defeated as he felt he made little progress. He turned around and looked at the grand pile he made. "Not bad though." He thought to himself as he examined his work. He walked around the side when he noticed that a portion of the pile seemed disturbed with leaves suddenly trailing from it. Without a thought, he raked the strays back into place.

"Ouch!" The pile seemingly squeaked as he turned to walk away.

"Is it me or did that pile just say "ouch"?" He smirked as he placed his rake down and slowly circled the squeaking pile. "Seems to me like I raked something up that doesn't belong. Wonder what it could be." The sounds of giggling from the pile confirmed his suspicions. The pile suddenly erupted upwards with a small figure at its center.

"Boo! Hehehe. Got you, Daddy!" A small red haired girl was the one hiding in the leaves you looked up to her father with youthful excitement in her big silver eyes.

"You sure did, Honey. But now look who got you!" He lunged forward and snatched her up from the pile. She kicked and squirmed as she laughed hysterically. He spun his daughter around as calmed somewhat and looked at him mischievously. "What are you smiling about? I won."

"You won the battle, Dad, but you didn't win..."

"THE WAR!" The pile erupted again as a second figure, slightly larger then her associate, leapt from the pile and unto the father's back. This girl had longer blonde hair, tied into pig tails, and violet eyes as she fought to pull their dad down to the ground. The two were successful as they toppled the man and made him a part of their pile. The three laughed out as the pile and its contents were spread out all along the ground again.

"Okay, girls, okay. Now I'm gonna be out here even longer." He said as they both climbed on top of him and looked down upon him. "But I guess it was worth it to see your girls' smiles."

"You want us to help you, Dad." The taller, blonde sister said as they climbed out of the pile.

"No, it's okay. You girls go have fun."

"Okay! Tag, Ruby! Your it!" The older of the two ran of and behind the house.

Ruby, the small red head, tried to run off after her, but something caught her shoulder. She turned to she that it was her dad again. He crouched down next to her and looked her in the eyes compassionately.

"You know the rules Ruby, stay in sight of the house, stay safe, and what ever you do don't grab Yang's hair when you go to tag her."

"Okay, Daddy." She said anxious to run off after her sister.

"Okay, go have fun, Sweety." He said rubbing her head, messing up her hair. She giggled as she darted off after her older sister.

Ruby ran around the corner of the house and scanned around, looking for a sign of her sister. When she could not, she then assumed that she was hiding out in the tree line. Ruby was afraid of that. She looked out in the darkness of the woods and had fear overcome her senses. However, she shook her head and ran off with a fresh rush of bravery. As she ran of into the tree line, she checked around every tree she passed. Nothing. Her sister was nowhere to be found. She whimpered slightly as she had her fear return to her. It felt to her as though the trees surrounding her were monsters and they were coming to get her.

"Yang!" She looked around desperately for a sign of her sister's golden locks. She heard a strange sound emit from behind her. The young Ruby spun around and caught a glimpse of a glimmering flash of white light that came from behind the trunk of a distant tree. Thinking it was her sister, she ran forward at the tree where the light emitted from. What she found was not her sister, but rather found a strange geometric object. To her young 5 year old mind, she thought that it was toy. The toy was a small ball that was somehow attached to a cubicle outer shell that had triangular angles instead of a box like shape. It had what looked like a camera lense in the center sphere, but it had black smudges covering it. Normally, the young girl would have thrown something like this aside, but she felt highly intrigued by the strange little toy. So enthralled by it, she didn't even realize that something was coming up from behind her. She turned surprised but was quickly relieved by a familiar white cloak.

"What are you doing out here by yourself, Petal?" The white cloaked woman asked and a sweet and tender voice.

"Mommy, look what I found!" She said holding the strange object up to her mother. She seemed surprised at first by the object, but gave her child a reassuring smile. She held her hands out and her daughter gave her the new toy. She took a moment and examined it as she looked back up to Ruby, who seemed so happy with her discovery.

"Tell you what. How bout we go inside, I just baked some fresh chocolate chip and I'll clean up this new toy of yours, how does that sound?"

"Okay!" The young Ruby ran past her mother and darted towards the house. Her mom stood back up and looked down at the strange device she had in her hand. "Come on, mommy!" Ruby ran back over and eagerly grasped her hand, dragging her along with her as her mouth watered and her excitement peaked with anticipation for the chance to play with her strange new toy.

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 **Please Favorite, Follow, and and leave a review of your thoughts on the story, what you liked, what you didn't, or what you'd like to see come out of this in the future. Until next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Family That

Chapter 2: A Family That...

"Cookies!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs in excitement as she busted through the back door of the cabin. Her mother followed close behind, Ruby's new toy still in hand. She walked over to the kitchen sink and placed it on the counter as she rummaged for something in the drawer below. While her mom was busy, Ruby charged forward at the refrigerator. With all the strength that her young, five-year-old body could muster, she yanked the door wide open and pulled the carton of milk out from it. As Ruby struggled to grab for a glass located in one of the top shelves, her mother had found what she was looking for. She stood up and turned the knob of the sink on. She coated the sponge she retrieved in soap and grabbed hold of the strange toy Ruby had found. She squeezed the sponge so that it had as little water held within it as possible and looked over the object with growing concern. She had been in combat more times then she could count and knew when she recognized a weapon's residue. It was clear that it was some kind of electrical burn, but unfortunately it was unclear of exactly what type of weapon it was. The most disturbing part was how close it was to the house. She couldn't help when she was cleaning it to keep an eye out in the tree line to see if anyone or anything was peering in. Her concentration was disrupted when the front door to the house was slammed open.

"Ruby!" Yang outbursted as she stormed into the kitchen. "You left me out there by myself waiting to be tagged. What is more important than..." Yang quieted her voice when she saw the steaming plate of cookies atop the dinner table. "...never mind." Yang's emotion state did a complete one eighty as she basically dove at the table and started devouring the cookies one by one. Ruby spun around horrified as she saw her sister stuff her face whole without even taking a second to breathe. She ran forward and slammed the milk carton and her glass atop the table, some of the milk splashing out from the lip.

"Don't hog them all, you pig! Save me some!" Ruby protested as she tried to push her sister aside to reach the treats.

"Now girls, there are plenty for both of you. Just take a seat and..." Suddenly, the back door to the cabin swung open as Yang and Ruby's father walked in and was immediately captivated by the aroma of the pastries. "Taiyang...don't you dare." She warned as she scowled towards him.

"Summer. I can't help it. They are calling to me." Taiyang murmured as he trudged forward at the table, arms outstretched at the cookies. The girls quickly wrapped their arms around the plate to defend what was theirs. Ruby even growled towards her father as he approached.

"Now girls, all I ask is just one. Is that too much?" They looked to each other and back to him and shook their heads up and down rapidly. Disappointed, he stopped his approach and looked to the ground. "I guess I'm outnumbered her. Guess I need reinforcements." He looked back to Summer for help.

"This is one mission, Tai, that I'm even afraid to go on. Good luck." Summer chuckled slightly as she continued to scrub away the residue on Ruby's toy. Taiyang looked back to the girls to see them still loyally guarding the plate. As he was staring he glanced up to the hall behind them and smirked at something approaching. Over the girls' heads a hand reached over and plucked two cookies from the pile. The hand was a right hand that had pale skin and rings on the pointer and ring fingers.

"Hey!" the girls spoke simultaneously and spun around with speed. Frowns on their faces at first but they quickly turned into ear to ear smiles as they recognized their thief. The girls leapt out of their chairs and latched onto the man.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shouted as she clung to his arm and as Yang wrapped herself around his leg.

"Did you miss us! Did you! Did you! Did you!" Yang murmured as she constricted tighter around his pants leg. Without saying a word, his lifted both girls up and cradled them from their midsections under his arms.

"You girls? No. Your mom's cooking. Definitely." Both the girls seemed upset by his statement, but the reassuring crack of a smile made it all better for the girls.

"Why don't you girls go play in your rooms for a while?" Summer asked the two wide eyed kids.

"Okay, mom! Come on, Uncle Qrow! Come and play!" Ruby said tugging on his cape.

"I will, kiddo, but give me a second to say hi to your mom and dad." He said rubbing her head. Ruby giggled in agreement and ran through the hall towards the stairs. Yang followed close behind, leaving the adults alone in the kitchen.

Qrow walked over to Taiyang and handed him the other cookie that he took from the pile.

"My cooking? That's what you missed about me, really?" Summer sat the fully cleaned and polished toy on the kitchen counter. She dried her hands as she questioned Qrow sarcastically.

"More or less." He spoke incoherently as he had have a cookie hanging out of his mouth and the other half being chewed. He walked over to the counter and bumped Summer slightly with his hip as he leaned back against it.

"So, how did the mission go?" Taiyang asked, taking a chair from the table.

"Oh you know, Oz sending me of, Grimm die, same old same old."

"Come on, Qrow, you know that's not what I mean." Qrow took a second to draw in some breath to sigh.

"No, there is no word from my sister." Qrow spoke regrettably as Taiyang had a look of disappointment fall yet again on his face.

"It's okay, Tai. We'll find her one day." Summer tried to reassure him but to no avail.

"It's not even for me. She's missing out on her daughter's childhood. She would've loved to see what a beautiful girl she's turned out to be."

"We all know what Raven was like. But hell, even I have no idea what went in that thick head of hers." Qrow turned and picked the odd looking toy off the counter. As he inspected it, Summer spoke up.

"It's okay..." Summer went over and pulled Taiyang from his chair. "...as long as we're here for each other..." she wrapped one arm around his waist and another around Qrow's, pulling them both into a side hug that they both wanted to lean out of. "...we will make the best of this, as one happy family." The boys groaned in agony from the overwhelming sweetness. All Summer did was smile and laugh from their misfortune. Tai pulled away and rushed to the hall entrance.

"Okay, I'm going to go check on the girls. I'll leave you two to...catchup." He smiled as he walked down the hallway to the staircase. When he was out of sight, Summer turned and fully hugged Qrow, and he returned the favor.

"I missed you. Never leave me like that again." Summer pleaded while glancing up into his eyes.

"I wish I never had to, but duty calls."

"Mmm, I know." She looked up to him and pulled his head down and gave him a peck on the lips. After, Qrow leaned back and had a smile fall across his face.

"Your right, there was something I missed more than your cooking." The two laughed a little as Qrow held his other hand up, the one with the toy in it. "So, what is this thing, some kinda paperweight?" He asked tossing the thing up in the air repeatedly.

"Honestly, I have no idea, I was hoping you or Tai knew. Ruby found it out in the trees. She really likes it, whatever it is."

"Well, it's interesting to say the least."

"There was something about it that worries me."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" He asked trying to pull the shell out from the rounded center.

"It had some sort of weapon residue on it." Qrow stopped his pecking and looked down to her with a worried look. "Don't worry, I know it's not a bomb. But someone did shoot this at some point."

"Have you asked Tai?"

"No, but I doubt he was using...whatever this is as target practice. "

"Still...we should ask him. I'll check are the property in the morning, just in case." Qrow rubbed the lense of the object with the edge of his thumb.

"You know, we still haven't thanked Tai for all of this."

Summer commented while unwrapping herself from his waste and walking over towards the chair that Taiyang pulled out earlier.

"Hmm. Don't you mean "him thank us"." He followed her and sat down in the chair nearest her. She took a seat as well and the two were seated around the corner nearest the back door.

"Qrow, I'm serious. After everything that's happened, he was more then generous to invite us and Ruby here. It's good for the girls and good for us to be apart of each other's lives again. Besides, we wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for that "luck" of yours." She said gesturing with finger quotations. Qrow sighed with slight irritation.

"Uhh...Sum how many times do I have to say I'm sorry that my "luck"..." he mockingly copied her gesture. "...got our apartment flooded..." he stopped as if he was hesitant.

"And..." She tried to pry the truth further from him. He looked down like he was a child being reprimanded.

"And caught it on fire...at the same time."

"Who's fault is that?"

"My semblance's."

"That's a smart birdie." Summer jokingly grabbed a cookie from the tray and stuck it in his mouth. He reached up and grabbed hold of the pastry as he bit into it.

"Fine, your right, I'll thank him in the way a man thanks another; with a nod of approval." All Summer could do in response was falmpalm.

"Why did I fall in love with you."

* * *

(Five hours later...)

* * *

Ruby and Summer's room was dark as the young girl fell into slumber some time ago. The only light that found its way in was through the panels of the windows on both sides on the room. The shelves above the desk had multiple figures of Grimm about them as well as similar figures and a multitude of other miscellaneous toys that littered the floor. Ruby had been tucked in several hours ago, yet Qrow couldn't help but watch his child from the rocking chair he had placed in the center of the room. In his arms was Summer, who was also fast asleep. He sat there proudly, counting his blessings.

He looked down to Summer and kissed her forehead.

"What did I do to deserve you two." He whispered to her in her ear. He knew that he could get away with the sappy stuff when she was asleep, otherwise he would never hear the end of it from her while she wasn't. He slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, he flipped it open and checked on the pair of rings inside.

"One day, I'll make things right with you, and we'll be a real family." Summer started to shift slightly, prompting Qrow to quickly shove the case quickly back into his pocket. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled when she saw him.

"Hm. Hey."

"Hey..." Summer spoke softly. "She still sleeping."

"Yeah. Aside from you two looking alike, there is one more thing you both do; snore."

"Jerk." Summer weakly brushed her hand across his face, she still being half asleep. She started to curl up to sleep again, when her Scroll started to go off from on her bed. Summer reached for it without looking, missing it several times over. Finally, she grabbed hold of it and answer it while still sounding like she just woke up. She yawned as she spoke.

"Huh...Summer Rose...Oh! Hey, Oz. What's up..." Her eyes widened as her attitude quickly shifted from groggy to attentive, jumping out of Qrow's lap and moving to the corner of the room. Qrow turned and looked over towards her, trying to catch what the Headmaster on the other end was saying.

"Ah huh...really?...when...Okay...Alright I accept...okay...I'll see you in a few days...bye Oz." She clicked the button to end the call on her Scroll she looked to Qrow, who had a look of disappointment befall him.

"Can't wait to get away from me, huh." He joked sarcastically.

"Ozpin has a mission for me. I leave in a few days." Qrow turned and looked back towards his daughter. "It'll only take me a few days, I'll be back before you know it." She walked around and sat on top her bed. Qrow still seemed upset. "Come on, you know it's our job. Besides, when I get back we can go away for a while. We can take Ruby, and we can finally tell her how you're her father." Her words made Qrow lighten up a bit, he smiled and looked over to her.

"Why'd we even let that get out of hand like that. And why would Tai go along with it." He said laughing into his hand slightly.

"It would be tough on her to not have her dad around. Also, I think Tai really enjoys the extra attention, it's good for him."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Besides... " She leaned forward and pulled him by his shirt closer to her. "I think Ruby would be more than happy to find out. Me included." She kissed him and tried to pull him down as she leaned back onto the bed. Qrow started to follow her, but pulled back when he realized where they were.

"Uhh, Summer..." he moved his eyes from Summer towards Ruby on his right. She looked cautious at first as she remembered her daughter was present, but looked back to Qrow as she bit her bottom lip. Suddenly, the two spoke out at the same time.

"The garage." They both smiled mischievously. Summer jumped up from the bed and hustled towards the door, as quietly as she could. Qrow gestured for her to go ahead, she nodded as she walked out the room and headed down the stairs. Qrow stood up and looked around the room. He looked to the desk, taking note of how the suspicious new toy was seemingly watching them the whole time. The thought quickly left his mind as he turned and looked down at his slumbering daughter. He walked over, leaned down, and gave her a peck on the top of her head.

"Sweet dreams, Petal." He whispered in her ear as he turned to leave the room. What he didn't notice is that as he was shutting the door to her room, her new toy's lense started to flashed and flicker with the glow of a blue light. The object started to rise from the table slightly, hovering over the table rather weakly.

"G-Guar...ian-." The toy, as quickly as it came back online, shut down once again. It's light fading from its eye as it bounced slightly on the desk.

* * *

(Several weeks later...)

* * *

Ruby was curled up on top her mother's bed, cradling a teddy Ursa in her arms. Her crying was soft, but it was enough to awaken something within the toy on the desk. The Ghost's eye flickered slightly, then disappeared again, a faint voice emanated from it.

"Guar-ian…I-here…don-wor-y…" Through her sobbing, Ruby managed to pick up on the faintness of the voice. Though her eyes were still welling with sadness, she looked up towards the desk, where the noise originated. Cautiously, see rose from the bed, clutching her plush Grimm for protection as she approached.

"Hello?" Ruby kept her eyes glued upon the door, expecting someone to come through. "Is someone there?" She stood waiting in front of the doorframe for several seconds. After that, the look of pure anguish reared its ugly head upon her face once more, and she turned to resume her mourning. However, her eyes fell upon the toy that she found a few weeks earlier. She walked over to the desk and reached for it. She grabbed hold of the shell and held it in her palms, looking at the reflection of her eyes in the lense. It made her think immediately of the day that she found it, then that thought was swiftly followed by her mother, when she brought her back inside and cleaned the object for her. The tears in her eyes started to flow, dripping onto the toy beneath her. This caused something to awaken deep within the center of the Ghost. Its eye started to flicker back to life. Ghost's eye came fully back online and it slowly levitated out of Ruby's palm, however it still seemed as though the little Light was in some sort of daze. Ghost looked up to Ruby, and its shell immediately extended backwards, expression a look of shock and surprise. Ghost's fear was even more realized when it took off, flying swiftly underneath of the bed frame and peeking out from the corner of it.

"Its ok, I'm not going to hurt you." Ruby wiped the water away from her eyes as she approached. Ghost's eye glitched for a moment, but after that its mannerisms completely shifted, Ghost floated out from behind the leg of the bed frame.

"I know, I'm sorry for that, it's just you startled me." It levitated higher, just under eye level. Ruby's eyes lit up with excitement.

"I knew you couldn't just be a boring school toy like Yang said! But where is your controller, how are you flying?" Ruby tilted her head and waved her hand over Ghost, seeing if there was so sort of string holding it up.

"Umm…I don't have a controller, I'm flying completely on my own. Also, I'm not a toy, I'm a Ghost."

"Soooo you're a dead person?" The curious young girl asked tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Uh…no, no I'm not…a dead…person. What are they covering in schools now, you kids need to learn up on your Traveler history."

"What's a Traveler?" The look on Ghost's lense was nothing little of pure shock, it almost seemed as though it rebooted itself.

"Wow. Ok, question: How did I get here?"

"I found you out in the woods, you were really dirty and gross, but my mom made you good as new."

"The WOODS?! You went outside the walls?" Ghost looked utterly shocked at the notion of a girl that young sneaking past the Last City's security. But, as it continues to learn, this girl continues to baffle the A.I's comprehension.

"The walls? We don't have any walls, a fence, but no walls." Ghost's shell slowly lowered over its lense, indicating that irritation was growing, because it felt like this little girl had to be playing some sort of game.

"Alright kid, this was great, but I have to leave, I have to find someone." Ghost started for the door, flying around Ruby and even beginning to cloak itself, when an unexpected grouping of words forced it to halt in its tracks.

"Are they lost like my mommy?" Ghost slowly shifted around to see that Ruby's head was hanging low, water dripping from her eyes.

"You lost your mother?" Its lense dimmed slightly in a form of empathy.

"M-my daddy said she isn't coming home..." Ghost's shell lowered slightly into a more sympathetic position, it was beginning to see that its attitude was uncalled for.

"I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how your feeling."

"Is your someone not coming home too?"

"No, my friend is out there somewhere. They have to be."

Ghost's expression peeled back up and he hustled to the window, it gazed up into the sky and scanned the star patterns to try to determine where they were. But, the one thing that completely baffled the Ghost was the shattering moon, something that he didn't recognize from any of the night skylines in the known galaxy. "Where are we? The outskirts of the Last City? The EDZ?" He asked taking notice of the foliage type outside the window.

"Me and my family live on Patch."

"Patch?" Ghost was completely dumbfounded. "This doesn't make sense." Ghost flew around the room, looking for anything it could find that signified where it was. He finally found a group of books above the desk he awoke on. He scanned the titles, and the titles all seemed like farfetched fairy tales rather than actual historical documents. One of the titles, however, gave him some answers, but also raised some questions. "The World of Remnant" it read along the spine of the impressive sized novel.

"Remnant? Is that the name of this planet? I've never even heard of it." Ghost thought while glancing back to the girl.

At this point, if Ghost possessed a physical heart, this is when it would have broken. She moved off the bed and was reaching underneath it. From their she pulled out another book, only this one had the title of "Memories" on its cover. Ruby opened and began to sift through the album of photographs. Ghost drifted over to just above her shoulder and joined her in observing the pictures. One in particular caught its attention. It was a woman holding a baby in her lap. The woman in the appeared as if she was an older version of the girl that Ghost was floating next to.

"Is that your mother?"

"Mhm." The young Ruby tried to hold back her tears.

"You look just like her. She's very pretty."

"She was." Ghost could tell she was getting upset again.

Ghost decided that this wasn't going to happen.

"What's your name?" Ghost asked with sincerity as he flew around and hovered above the photo of Summer.

"Ruby."

"Ruby, that's a nice name. I'm Ghost. It's a pleasure to meet you. Tell me, Ruby, do you like stories?" Ruby's eyes shot up to Ghost with her child-like curiosity. Her eyes glistened silver in through the water overtaking them. "I thought you might. How about if I tell you some about where I come from, you can tell me some stories where you do, sound good?" Ruby seemed as though all of her thoughts and worries about her mother faded away. Ghost could tell that this girl really needed someone by her side right now. It still knew that it's Guardian was probably still in that Vex stronghold, and probably dead. Though this worried Ghost more than anything. It knew that as long as it could locate a Vex teleporter, it could try to alter it to send it back right after the moments it was sent through the other one. Though it was a long shot, it and it's Guardian have done the impossible before. For now, it's place was with this girl. To help her through these trying times, it would be what it's Guardian would want.

* * *

"What do you make of it?" The Vale police officer asked his partner, who was examining the aftermath of a bizarre scene. They were having reports of a suspicious individual around the CCT tower. Once they arrived on scene to investigate, they discovered that in a nearby alleyway there was what appeared to be droplets of a familiar crimson liquid. The two had their hands on their holsters while they explored.

"Doesn't look like much. Not enough to really assume something is going on around here. Maybe our "suspicious individual" got a nosebleed and ran off." The two started laughing, unaware that on the opposite end of the alley a large figure, shrouded in the cover of night, walked into the center of the lane. It straightened its form, but after that, it stood stiff like a statue. "Oh well, it's always one faulty tip after another. Alright, let's get back on patrol." The officer who was knelt down rose up to his feet, wiping his hands on his pants. His partner started to walk back towards their vehicle, as did he, but he chose to glance back down the alley, having a strange feeling enter the back of his mind. He had to double take, noticing something odd on the opposite end. "Hold on." He said to his partner as he started to walk into the darkness. His partner chose to follow. The two came up onto the opposite side and found something odd. A strange liquid. Not blood droplets like before, but rather a strange, glowing white fluid that was puddled atop the asphalt.

"What the hell is that?" The partner, the one who first walked towards their car, asked with a look of total confusion. The other knelt down and cautiously ran his fingers through the unknown liquid. As soon as his skin made contact with it, the fluid suddenly jolted to life. Electricity coursed through the officer's body. He tried to pull his arm out of it, thinking it was nothing more then his muscles being locked, however, it seemed more like the puddle had an actual grip. His partner grabbed him by the shoulders and started to pull. Their strength combined, the two still could not free him.

"GAHHHH! Dammit! Pull!"

"I'm trying!" As the second officer continued to pull. He thought that it might be time to radio in for backup. As he went to reach for his radio, he felt something grip his shoulder he, along with his partner, were ripped from the electrified pool. They fell flat on their backs. The one with his hand in the puddle released a relieved sign.

"Thanks, Auburn. I owe you." He gripped around his wrist, which was still throbbing and tingling. He looked back to his partner, who was looking up and frozen with fear.

"It wasn't me." Officer Auburn's voice was trembling as he barely managed to mutter the sentence. His partner turned to where he was looking and had a similar terror overtake him. A large figure stood in an ominous fashion. Its form was illuminated this time by the glowing liquid, not an immense amount, but just enough to highlight the key details. The figure had what appeared to be a metallic brass body armor surrounding its upper torso. Around it's abdominal region it appeared like it had a form of undersuit that had a leathery latex appearance with additional metallic plating, but this was different then the torso, as it looked like it was infused into its body. More of this metal skin covered all portions of that were not overlapped by this external armor. This armor covered the joints and exposed areas, such as its left shoulder, left forearm, thighs, knees, and waist. Its right arm was an abomination to say the least. The arm was not natural. It seemed as though it was an amalgamated prosthetic assembled by different parts of machinery. Exhaust valves were located on its shoulder and back half of its forearm. There was no hand, but rather the terrifying profile of a blade, one similar to that of a Roman scissor. It looked as if it the blade was on the lid of some sort of cylinder, that took the place of an actual forearm. This cylinder was surrounded by at least a dozen black barrels that connected to a rotating disc that was connected to the back half of cylinder. It's legs below the knee were more animalistic, have no footwear but rather mechanical claws. Though its weapon arm was indeed horrifying, nothing was ghastlier then its head that had a fan-like skull that extended back for a couple feet. This fan sloped down and connected to a singular, optical lense that was located upon the middle of the forehead. Under that was its mouth, that had no real features other than the fact it had a wide plate that made up its front half of the face. Behind this was a mess of parts and wiring. To the sides of it mouth plate on its lower jaw, the same liquid that was on the ground was streaming from its within it from an unknown source. The liquid dripped from its jaw continuously at a steady pace, falling on its chest and also the ground below. It looked back at the two from the corner of its eye. It's piercing red glow of its eye stared into the souls of the two officers.

 **"If it's not yours..."** the figure turned its body to face the officers. Its voice had an electronic and robotic nature, one that glitched and changed its tone randomly at points. The barrels on its right arm started rotating rapidly as the cylinder started to illuminate with an orange energy. It approached as its eye's brightness grew more intense with a crimson hate. **"...don't touch it."** Its weapon was almost white with the temperature it was reaching. It pointed the blade at them and the lid fell, showing the molten liquid held within it. The officers cried out for help, but were silenced as the burning liquid fell and enveloped their beings, cascading them in mess of molten brass-like metal.


	3. Chapter 3: Time Heals All Wounds

**Hello everyone, this is Soul of Ragnarok, bringing you yet another chapter to Brightest in the Dark, last chapter I did not leave you all a little message beforehand, because I wanted to just get the chapter out, however, this time I just wanted to say thank you all for the support that this story has been receiving, because it has just been incredible. I never would have thought that there would be this much support for it. All your reviews have been an absolute joy to read. To The Doormaster, if there is a key to this ciphered review you left...can I have it, pretty please? Well anyways, here is Chapter 3!**

* * *

As days past, Ghost could feel that leaving Ruby was going to prove to be a difficult endeavor. It would spend the days watching over her from above in the cover of its ability to disappear into thin air. At night, it would talk to Ruby, sharing stories of grand adventures with their own versions of a hero saving the day, as well as discussing the members of her family. In this time, Ghost learned about the different individuals that lived in her house, as well as examining what they were like itself. It learned that her sister was a hot head but a caretaker in her sister's time of need. Her father was equally as loving, taking care of her and anything she needed. As for her uncle, the one with the red cape, he was cold and distant, almost standoffish to everyone, except to Ruby, his entire attitude shifted and became a caring guardian to her. Ghost felt that she had enough family to get her through the loss of her mother, and that it's time there was limited. One day however, her uncle left, going off on some sort of mission. Soon after his departure, her father left for a similar reason. This left the sisters all alone in this big empty house. Ghost learned that this was not a usual family. Weeks went by, and her father and uncle returned occasionally, but only for short periods of time. Weeks became months. Ghost spent its time now analyzing the pages of every book in the house, learning about this planets history, the horrific wars, terrifying beasts, and the overall instability that these so-called kingdoms called peace. Compared to the Last City, there was little cooperation, as if no one cared for their people's survival. Ghost saw this planet was in shambles, and leaving a young girl like Ruby, so full of innocence and hope, to be chewed out by this world and left to rot was unacceptable. It wanted to protect this child. It knew that it was still its Titan's Ghost, but it felt as if it had an unconscious obligation to this girl. Months turned to years, Ghost continued to stay by her side as a protector, giving her advice and helping her through the hard times, not getting involved unless she absolutely needed it. In these years, Ruby began her training as a Huntress, a defender of humanity, a hero, a role almost parallel to the Guardians that Ghost fought side by side with for years. And the little Light couldn't be happier.

* * *

(10 years later...)

* * *

A young girl stood in front of a stone grave marker, one that overlooked a cliff face. Behind her was a forest of trees that traveled for miles. Autumn had come, and the leaves were carried by the wind off the cliff and into the valley below. The only thing aside from them the wind affect was a long cape attached to a hood that covered the girl's face. She pulled her hood back. The sun's reflection bounced off her bright silver eyes. She let out a soft sigh, but just as she did, a small flying robot appeared, glancing down at the grave alongside her.

"We come here every year and it never gets easier does it?" Ghost asked hovering next to Ruby's head, glancing over to see what she was going to say.

"It's the tenth time, a whole decade, and it still feels like yesterday." Ghost shell lowered slightly over its lense as its light dimmed.

"I know what you mean, hard to believe I haven't seen my Guardian in that long." Ruby glanced over at the artificial intelligence.

"Why did you stay, Thorne?"

"It's what he would've wanted. He would expect me to do whatever it took to help people. Guess that neural symbiosis really kicked in, huh?..." Ghost's lense intensified in brightness. "And what did I say about calling me "Thorne"?" Ruby snickered slightly as she knew it would bother them.

"You told me some Ghosts get names. And you know the old saying, "Every rose has its thorns"."

"Oh ha ha, clever word play. You know I can do that too..." Ruby continued to stare at Ghost in its lense, it's eye looked away, but he kept rapidly glancing back at her. "...well I can't do it with you looking at me like that!" Ruby snickered slightly as she pulled her hand up to her mouth to hold back out loud laughter. Ghost turned away from her. She gently patted it on the top of its shell.

"Come on, let's head back, it's getting late." Ruby turned away from her mother's grave and began to walk back down the path that they came from. Ghost took a moment longer, glancing down at marker with somber regards.

"Come on, Thorne!" Ruby shouted back as she made it to the treeline. Ghost rolled its lense while facing away from her, but chuckled slightly as it looked up to the sky.

"Look what I get myself into when you're not around." Ghost turned and disappeared from sight, only to reappear by the red cloaked girl's side.

They started down the path back to their house. On the way, Ghost kept glancing over to Ruby, like it had something it wanted to say.

"I know that this day isn't necessarily a pleasant one, but you know what else it means?"

"What's that?" She glanced over to him for a moment, not having a clue.

"It's also the ten-year anniversary of when we first met. So, as any other floating artificial intelligence would, I kinda got you something." Ruby stopped in her tracks and looked to Ghost with a puzzled expression, seeing that there was no way that it could be hiding some sort of present anywhere on its being. "You might wanna step back." Ruby did ask Ghost asked and backed away slightly. Ghost shell suddenly shot out from its center orb. The parts of the shell began to orbit it, like electrons around a nucleus. Between this, a small cloud of slight blue Light kept itself contained inside the orbit. Ghost strained itself, but soon particles of Light began shimmering and grouping together to form a shape. In one final push, the particles solidified into the shape of some form of vehicle, Ruby had little knowledge of what it was. But to Ghost, it was a Wayfarer Zero Class Sparrow, a Guardians main form of terrestrial transportation aside from their feet. It possessed a red and black paint job, the seat and wings being black while the hood was a red that matched Ruby's apparel, on it as well was a blackened version of her emblem. Ruby looked as though she was going to faint from all the excitement.

"This is amazing! When did you have the time to do this!" Ruby started to run her hand across the wing of the Sparrow, looking at her reflection in the paint. As she was mounting the bike, Ghost started its explanation.

"Well I already had the files in my database, it just took some Light and...POP! Brand new Sparrow with a new paint job."

Ruby looked to Ghost happy, but then shifted to a sympathetic gaze.

"It was your friend's, huh?"

"His first one. Got it just a few days after I found him. Needless to say, he wasn't very adept with it. Shaxx never saw him coming on that first test drive..." It's light dimmed in lense as it remembered, but upon realizing its effect on Ruby's mood as well, it perked back up. "...but I think you'll be a fast learner. Your much more coordinated then he was." She nodded as the excitement returned to her face as she gripped the handles. Ghost vanished from sight, but it's voice could still be heard in Ruby's head

 _"Okay so you're going to want to take this slow at first before y-!"_ Against its wishes Ruby slammed her foot on the gas. The thruster on the back of the bike erupted in flame as they were propelled down the path. Trees shot by in a blur as Ruby could not hold in the adrenaline she was experiencing.

"Woohoo hoo!" Ruby shouted out as she weaves in and through the path, coming within inches of trees with no fear.

 _"Ohh my God! Ok, ok! Ruby, please slow down! I'm gonna puke! I will puke! I'm puking! BLAH!"_ But she didn't, for over two miles she traversed the rough terrain of the forest. Ghost started to relax, but was still terrified, it has flown a spaceship before through Saturn's ring, but when I wasn't in control, it lost control. With their house on the horizon, Ruby and Ghost came to the consensus of hopping off the Sparrow while they were still hidden by the forest from the house's view. The Sparrow, similarly to how Ghost does, vanished from this world's reality. Ghost reappeared, flying low to the ground and hovered over towards a cluster of tall grass. The sound of vomiting originated from Ghost, Ruby stood waiting for it to finish. Once it re-emerged, Ruby looked at it with an eyebrow raised.

"You didn't just throw up, it's not possible." Ghost wobbled up back to eye level.

"Do you want to be the one to go and look?" Ruby looked as though she was going to walk over and look, but hesitated. "I thought so. Come on. Let's go."

"But what about the Spar-oh?" She turned to see that the bike had vanished.

"Don't worry. I can bring it back whenever you need it. As long as you don't drive like that, that is." Ghost looked at her like there was a deal in play. Ruby jerked her head back and let out a groan.

"Ugh! Fine you win!" Ruby stomped her feet as they passed through the treeline and into the yard on the left side of their house. Ghost disappeared and started to once again talk to Ruby in her head.

 _"Is anyone home? Can you tell."_ Ruby looked around for any signs of her family. To the best of her knowledge, it didn't seem like they were there.

"Why are you still so timid around them? You've been here this long and they don't even know you exist."

 _"I've told you this a thousand times. I've watched what they are like, a lot of them are shoot first, ask questions later. Also, your uncle also holds such a strong distaste for Atlas technology, and from what he knows, I'm a spy drone."_ Ruby nodded somewhat in agreement.

"Good point." Ruby walked around the side of the house to the back door. She walked through and took in a deep breath. She reached up and began to pull her cloak and hood off, she rolled it up and pulled the cloth under her arm as she walked through the kitchen and up to her room. She opened the door and scanned the room. Aside from a few things here and there, it was relatively the same as the days when her mother still slept in it. She closed the door behind her and sat herself down on her bed. Ghost reappeared as she started to unlace her boots. She pulled them and placed them alongside the bed frame. She walked over to towards her closet and began to change out of her current clothing. Ghost turned around as a sign of respect to her, also, it didn't want to make that kind of mistake again.

"Music?" It asked her without looking.

"Umm...I don't know. Your playlist or mine?"

"I'll just put it on shuffle." Ghost randomized what music would play, the song of choice landed upon the song "Here Comes the Sun", a song that its Guardian insisted would play on repeat the time that they were hiking across the desert plains of Mercury, needless to say he had a sense of humor.

"A classic, nice." Ruby said as she pulled her pajama shirt down. Over the years, as well as stories, Ruby and Ghost exposed each other to the music from the worlds they came from. Ruby especially took to the songs that Ghost possessed in his memory banks. "Okay, Thorne, you can turn."

"Err...what did I say, Ruby, please, don't call me...Thorne?" It turned around, ready to burst, but quickly fizzled out when he saw Ruby holding a small, gift wrapped box in her hands.

"Happy 10 years, Ghost." She walked over and sat the gift atop her mattress. Ghost hovered over and slowly circulated around it. Ruby pulled the bow off and lifted the lid off. Ghost peered in to see something that melted its heart, if it had one. It was a shell, a Ghost shell, one that had was highly customized. It was red, like Ruby's cloak and new Sparrow. It had on its corner rounded points. It had four long spikes, two high and two low that extended backwards. Along on of the top portions was her emblem imprinted on it, but with a twist as it had a miniature Ghost outline within the center of the rose. On the same side, along the bottom edge, was the name "Thorne" engraved into it. Ghost glared up to Ruby with a look of irritation, it's light in its lense flickering like an eye twitch. But looking back to the shell and noticed all the work she put in, it relented its pet peeve.

"I think, given time, I can learn to love the name. Like you said, every Rose has one." A genuine smile of joy grew on the girl's face. Ghost hovered above the box, but stopped in place. "Ahem."

"Oh, sorry!" Ruby covered her eyes. Ghost chuckled to itself as she did. It extended its shell out like before, but the pieces dropped out of its orbit and onto the mattress. The red shell slowly rose up. They shot apart and started revolving around its center. The parts of the shell closed in and locked together around its lense.

"Ok, how do I look?" Ruby, who was looking the whole time, moved her hands away from her eyes.

"Better than ever." Ghost, now properly named, felt better than it ever has. For the first time since its separation from its Guardian, it felt at home. But it still couldn't shake the thoughts that tortured its mind, the thoughts that it may have failed at the purpose it was created for.

* * *

"This is Guardian ship six-one-four on approach on approach to IO, Vanguard, what do you got?" A Dawnblade Wizard radioed into the Last City, want to receive confirmation on its objective.

* * *

 _"This is Commander Zavala. Six-one-four, your mission is search and rescue. One of my Sentinels was sent into hostile territory with little knowledge as to what he was getting into. He hasn't checked in in several days. We need you to find and retrieve this Guardian, no one left behind."_ Zavala, the Titan Vanguard, responded with great concern in his voice.

 _"Yeah, you know or whatever scraps you find just scoop 'em up in a baggie and drag 'em back here." The wise cracking Cayde-6, the Hunters' Vanguard, intruded._

 _"Cayde! Be lucky that I'm not sending you on this mission, after all you're the one responsible for this."_

 _"Zavala, I know your mad, but I wouldn't have sent him in without thinking he could handle it. Besides, he's an Exo, it's not like if he's in pieces then we ca-"_

 _"Cayde...please. Enough."_ Zavala cut off his fireteam member. Though Cayde was correct it still wasn't a pleasant thought. The Dawnblade's ship cut through the atmosphere and flew down near the surface, past the Pyramidion

And over the sea of rock and the gargantuan skeletons of long dead beasts. The Warlock finally came upon the entrance to the unmarked cavern, the one the Sentinel Titan plunged into. Her Ghost appeared by her side as they began to explore into the Vex stronghold. They traversed deeper and deeper, the Vanguard members listening in as she did.

 _"What are you seeing, Firefly?"_ Cayde asked, with a bit of a dig at her subclass' expense.

"Nothing." She said rounding a turn in the cavern.

 _"That sounded like a bad "Nothing"."_

"Yes, a bad nothing..." She stood staring into a massive opening in a cavern. A large rock structure stood and in the distance an offline Vex Gate. That's not what worried her. Littering almost every inch of the cavern, lay the destroyed bodies of hundreds upon hundreds of Vex. Vex of all types and Vex of past, present, and future. Precursors and Descendants alike, all were among the carnage. "...a very bad nothing. The destroyed bodies of Vex from different timelines. I can't even begin to count how many there are. I've never seen anything like it."

 _"Let us see."_ As Zavala ordered, the Warlock's Ghost began broadcasting the feed back to the Vanguard. The Ghost flew high to allow them to get the full scale, and what they saw was just as dumbfounding to them as it was to the Dawnblade.

The Warlock knelt to examine the core of a Descendant Goblin. Its core, the part that held the Vex Radiolarian fluid, was completely drained, dry as a bone. The Warlock moved from Vex to Vex, discovering the same scene; the Vex milk was all gone, as if something had siphoned it out of them. The Warlock worked her way towards the Vex Gate. Among these drained Vex, she made yet another startling discovery. She found the cave in helmet of the Sentinel. Her Ghost flew over and broadcasted what it was seeing to the Vanguard. Solemn silence fell over the radio, mourning what they believed was evidence of the loss of one of their own.

 _"The mission is over, six-one-four, we'll see you back home."_

"Understood, Vanguard, I'll be back soon, over and out." The Warlock turned and began heading back to the caverns entrance. "Come on, Hearth, we're done here." The Warlock glanced back to see her Ghost, but what see saw was not what she expected to see at all. Her Ghost was suspended in midair, just several feet away from the Vex Gate, which was now activated. Some sort of hand was clasped around her friend's shell. Her Ghost was making an odd whining noise as its lense darted back and forth in a panic. She watched as this hand tightened its grip, and a crack started to form across its center, it's Light shining through it. She watched horrified as the owner of the hand entered fully into the cavern. Exhaust valves on its right weapon arm cried out with the release of pressure. The figure looked down at the helpless Light construct, Radiolaria dripping down onto the shell from its mouth. It looked up to the Dawnblade.

 **"So sad..."** The figure began to speak as it looked down upon the Guardian. **"...you're bond with it is so strong, but when you need it most..."** The Vex being, with minimal effort, crushed the Ghost's shell and core with its hand, like an aluminum can. **"...your friend leaves you."**

"NOOO!" The Warlock cried out, letting her normally calm demeanor to leave her. In a rage, she summoned her shining blade as wings of flame sprouted furiously from her back. She took to the sky as the Vex being tossed the crushed Ghost forward, directly under the Warlock. This enraged her further. She swung her sword, unleashing the rain of a firestorm down onto her unknown assailant. The Vex being refused to move, accepting her barrage openly. The waves of solar fury, exploded upon impact with it, sending Vex parts and rock outward in all direction. The fire covered her in a burning coat of anger as she soared down with blade in both hands ready to slice the monstrosity in two. With all her might and as much Light as she could muster, swung her solar sword down upon the top of the fin of its head. She thought it was finished, that she avenged her Ghost. However, in a fraction of a second, the Vex being caught the blade between the Roman scissor and the lid of its weapon. The Warlock has a face of utter shock upon her face. With its opposite hand, it reached over and gripped the blade. It twisted its hand back and held the blade at an awkward angle, locking the Guardian in place. With its clawed right foot, it stomped on her foot and the claws dig into the ground, locking her whole leg in place. It pulled its blade back away and to its side, the black barrels around the cylinder started rotating. Through her helmet, she looked up into the being's optical lense. Again, it spoke to her.

 **"They've spent millennia in simulations, trying to understand what your Light is, the most ancient and greatest of Minds, none could crack the code. They were all fools...incompetent and primitive. I alone discovered the truth, and when your Guardians do as well..."** the Vex uppercut The Warlock in the stomach with the scissor, the entirety of the blade passing into her abdomen. **"...they will have already failed."** With her vision blurring, she watched as this creature ripped her blade from her hands, it flipped the sword around and as it did wings of flame shot out from its back. It turned and tossed the Warlock through the Vex Gate. The Light construct started to dissipate, but instead of lifting up into the air, the raw Light energy began absorbing into the torso of the monstrosity. The wings faded while it looked back at the crushed Ghost, it's eye illuminating so intensely that its lense cracked. It turned back and walked through the portal, its work only beginning.

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 **Please Follow, Favorite, and a leave a Review if you want to say anything or have notes on where to take this story, or a cipher...if you want me up all night trying to crack it.**


	4. Chapter 4: Into the Rabbit Hole

**Hey, how's it going everybody! I'm Sou-rrgh-wait, rewind that...*coughs*...I'm M12R0R, pronounced Mirror, and welcome back after a long wait for the next chapter of Brightest in the Dark. I am truly sorry for the wait, I had the holidays, then a vacation, then just abut load of personal issues I had to deal with, also, school, and school sucks...(If you all didn't know that already). I just couldn't find time to write and when I did I was exhausted and unmotivated. But that was the past and its now been 3 months so I was like, no, that is unprofessional and unfair, considering that you guys have gotten this story to almost a hundred follows and over have of that have favorited this story. That to me is...dumbfounding...because I never thought that when I first posted this story it would amount to much, I thought I would fall under the radar like most do, but you guys didn't let that happen, and for that I sincerely thank you all. For this, I will start something new as to where if you ask me a question in the reviews I will answer it. Starting today!**

 **Doormaster: Its been three months...0% progress...DEAR GOD GIVE ME THE ANSWER!**

 **Delta: The Titan really did try to go through the portal, but due to the Hobgolbin shot he took through the spine and the intense fire that he took from the Goblins, he physically couldn't find the strength to move. Also. the choice to throw the Ghost through was out of desperation. If his Ghost got out, got revived, and managed to return, it would return to resurrect him, like the whole thing never happened, but no Ghost, no life. I hope that helped.**

 **That about does it guys, please enjoy!**

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With her next semester at Signal Academy beginning soon, Ruby worked hard to ensure everything was perfect. She purchased a new combat skirt, and ironed her hood. The last step, was to clean her weapon, her sniper scythe, Crescent Rose. Her skills with said weapon were incredible for her age, making her one of the strongest in her class. Though Thorne would be more then happy to take credit for her improvements, he knew that he couldn't. It was her Uncle Qrow, who trained her and honed her techniques with the blade. Something Thorne had noticed, unlike the Guardians, who relied purely on strength to overcome opponents, the Huntsman and Huntresses of Remnant were much more fluent and graceful, overall more skillful fighters. Thorne learned a lot about Remnant's history, but when it came to such things like Dust, Auras, and Semblances, he was absolutely lost.

"So, is it like a forcefield, like a shield that a Wizard or Captain has?" Thorne pestered as he hovered around Ruby, who was seated at the desk in her room, tinkering with the trigger mechanisms of Crescent Rose. Stretched all across the room different pieces on the weapon, smaller pieces placed upon her bed, and larger pieces like the handle and blade on the floor. Ruby has preformed these type of repairs before, but with her friend's newfound interest in these rather well known facts, it became a major challenge. For some reason he couldn't make any sense of it, like it was beyond his understanding.

"Aura is in a sense, yes, but it's not artificially generated like those, it's an extension of ourselves, our souls. It will take hits for us, or we can use our Semblances and that will use it up as well."

"But like, how does it work, where does it come from." Ruby's hand slipped and the screwdriver caused all her progress to explode out of her hands. Ruby's hand fell on the table along with her head, she proceeded to let out a low groaning sound. Just as she did, a knock fell onto the door and the knob began to turn. Thorne looked over in a panic, as the door opened, he was still visible. Ruby grabbed him and held him in her hands. It took him a moment, but he figured out what she was thinking. His lense blinked off, and he resumed a static state, but he was still fully aware of everything going on around him. The door opened and through the frame entered a long, flowing, golden mane of a familiar figure.

"Hey Rubes...woah..." Yang's eyes grew as her eyes widened and she scanned around the room, glancing at all the parts.

"...did your weapon explode or something?"

"Uh, no, I'm just doing a full cleaning before next semester starts, making sure she's in tip top shape...hehe." Ruby laughed nervously as she glanced back down to Thorne, who's lense was dimly lit as if he was peeking. Yang walked over towards her sister and leaned herself against her desk, looking down into Ruby's hands to see the strange little toy.

"Hey, I remember that thing, you found it, cool." Years ago, for the sake of Ghost not having to be tossed around like a ball, Ruby told Yang that she lost it on a trip into Vale.

"Oh, this, yeah I found it in a box in the garage. I kinda personalized it...because there is a lot of sentimental value, you know?"

Ruby was an awful liar. Yang could tell that there was something she was keeping back, but she couldn't place it.

"Yeah, I get it. Mom's funeral was ten years ago yesterday. It's tough...it's always tough around this time, and when Dad and Uncle Qrow leave, it's just us here."

"Have either of them said when they'll be back?"

"Dad checked in yesterday, Uncle Qrow hasn't said anything since he left."

"I hope he's ok..." Ruby rubbed some smudging away from Thorne's lens.

"He will be, he's the toughest remember, nothing stops him."

Yang tried to be reassuring for her little sister.

"That's what they used to say about Mom..." Yang reached over and placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"No matter what Ruby, I'll always be here for you. Okay? That's a promise." Ruby looked up to Yang with her eyes watering a bit. With Thorne in her left hand, Ruby lunged up and hugged her sister around the neck, Yang happily returned the favor. Thorne's eye flickered on and gently squeezed himself out of her hand.

"Thank you, Yang." Ruby tightened her grip as Thorne hovered into her vision. From his eye he projected a screen that displayed the time and a reminder Ruby asked him to set.

"Anytime, sis. I-"

"Oh no! I'm late! I need to get to the Dust shop before they close!" Ruby cut Yang off mid sentence and pulled out of the hug. She looked to her weapon parts and began scooping them all up, throwing them into a backpack.

"What do you mean? It's still morning they won't be closing until the end of the night."

"Not the ones here! From Dust Till Dawn" has a sale on Gravity Dust! I need to get there before they close!" She slung the bag on her back and started for the door.

""From Dust Till Dawn"? That's all the way in downtown Vale. You have to take the ferry there, hold on, let me give you a ride to the docks."

"It's okay, I'll get there on my own! Thank you though!" Ruby zoomed out the room and down the stairs. "I love you, see you later, sis!" Ruby slung open the door and slammed it shut.

"Love you too?" Yang questioned while she looked around confused by what just happened.

As Ruby ran down the walkway from the house, Thorne appeared by her side, keeping pace with her running.

"That could have been handled with a bit more...grace." Thorne joked sarcastically.

"You said we had to go, so we have to go. So, how can I summon that-"

"Sparrow." As Thorne spoke the speeder bike started to materialize under her feet. Ruby stopped and reached out, the handles of it forming in her hands. The Sparrow's thruster threw flames like a dragon, and the two flew blazing down the path towards Patch's docks. In the span of an hour they hopped on the ferry and now waiting aboard deck. In the time she had while in transit, Ruby was attempting to reassemble Crescent Rose. Though the ferry was relatively short on passengers, Thorne wasn't going to float around freely. Like he had done for years now, he stayed close to her side, unmoving like the toy he impersonates. He just glanced around, and mainly watched Ruby put her weapon back together. As they began nearing Vale's port, the Ghost suddenly jolted up into the air. Ruby, who was just finishing with her weapon, was startled, causing the last screw she was tightening to go flying off without her knowledge.

"Thorne!..." She shouted out. "...You scared me. What's wrong?" She looked over to him.

"This. Look." He cast forward a projection of the VNN Live, with a special report from Lisa Lavender. As usual, she was on the right side of the screen, however, on the left side where their is an image of the subject she is speaking about, it displayed something rather disturbing. It was a black image with an ominous red light shining in its center. Thorne turned up the volume, tuning into what she had been saying.

 _"...over the last decade, our city has been under siege by an unknown monstrosity, leaving numerous of Vale's finest and even huntsmen dead in its wake..."_

The two looked on curiously, however, Thorne could not help but become fixated on the image in the corner. It's red glow being terrifyingly familiar. Ruby, on the other hand, was completely enveloped by what the reporter was saying.

 _"...though any physical depictions of this assailant have been proven impossible to come up with, witnesses have reported strange red lights appearing shortly before and after the sites of the murders. If you or someone you know happens to witness these lights, please report it to the proper authorities immediately. I'm Lisa Lavender at..."_ Thorne ended the broadcast, and floated slightly away from Ruby, turning from her. She looked to him and drew in breathe, preparing to speak.

"No." He spoke up before she could.

"You didn't even know what I was going to say." She retorted back. The Ghost spun around, his blue lense lights flickered and switched into a lightish pink color. His usual reserved and ironic attitude became excitable and perky. His voice also shifted into a higher pitch and tone, perfectly mimicking Ruby's own.

"Oh, Thorne! Wouldn't it be so cool and fun to track down and catch whoever is responsible for all that, even though no one knows what their capable of and that they've killed professional huntsmen and I'm just a little girl with a sniper scythe!" His eye and demeanor flipped back to normal. Ruby raised an eyebrow at his imitation. "But no, Ruby, it's out of the question." He glanced off at the water as it past by his starboard.

"Thorne, what's really going on? What has you so upset?"

Thorne's eye disappeared for a moment as he sighed.

"I know I told you about how my Guardian died, but I never said what it was that killed him." His eye lite up and he projected the image of a Goblin, then it switch to a Hobgoblin, and continued on, highlighting the different models of the Vex in his database. "They're called the Vex, a race of cybernetic beings that are hell bent on terraforming planets and eliminating all organic life."

"Sound scary." Ruby said with eyes wide as the projection of a Hydra appeared. "Now, hold on. They said all they saw were glowing red lights, what this thing could be is just some sort of Grimm that is loose. Plus, how could one of those get here?" The Ghost's shell closed around his eye like he was thinking intently. He looked as though he wanted to say one thing, but then retract his words.

"They're one of the most tenacious and bloodthirsty beings in the universe, it was only a matter of time before they found Remnant. But the Vex usually come to a planet in full force, so this could be just a small pocket controlled by a young Axis Mind." While Thorne spoke truthful speculation, he was hiding a critical detail. He had a feeling that he brought the Vex to Remnant when he awoken the ancient Warp Gate, giving them a straight shot to this unprotected world. Ruby's face shifted into one with slight determination.

"Thorne, if these things really are here in the city and we're the only ones who know about them then it's our responsibility to stop them. With my training and your knowledge we can stop these things before they hurt anyone else." He looked up at Ruby with a mix of fear and inspiration plastered across his lense.

"Your right, it's our job! We have to stop them!"

"Ya! That's the spirit!" She threw her hands triumphantly in the air as the ship they were on set of their horn.

(One ferry ride to Vale later...)

"Ruby we can't do this, you were wrong! It's not our job!"

He panicked as Ruby tried to desperately to push him into her backpack. He fought valiantly, but was rather quickly defeated as she sealed him inside with the zipper.

"You can't just pull a one-eighty like that on me, Thorne! You already said yes!" She yelled at her backpack, some people around the docks looking up from what it was they were doing to glance at the seemingly crazy child.

"You cannot detain me forever!" A muffled voice screamed out from the bag.

"I can and I will, we're doing this, I'm going to start at the site of the last attack; a back alley near the downtown commercial district. Let's get moving."

"Never! You ca-!" Ruby muffled Thorne's voice even further by pulling her headphones over her ears. She tugged on the straps of her backpack and began to leave Vale's dock.

As the hours of the day past, Thorne's detestability held true, but his complaining about it disappeared. He was eventually allowed to be released, the Ghost figured that if he couldn't deter Ruby from this quest, he would do everything he could to prepare her. With the sun setting, Thorne continued to give his pseudo-Guardian companion an explanation of what her possible adversary was capable of.

 _"So, just to recap, all Vex have the ability to teleport to you at any moment they wish, do not let them touch you, they have the ability to warp your sense of reality, but I'm here so I should be able to keep any of that from happening. Also, their abdomen is their weak point, so..."_

"Thorne. It's ok, we've trained for worse." She spoke with confidence as they past through a brightly lit portion of Downtown Vale. They stuck to the street's sidewalk, passing a multitude of different alley ways, some with little to any light inside them. The shadows in these were thick and abyssal, hiding whatever would like to be hidden. As Ruby past it, one of these shadows shifted, disappearing behind the corner of the building. She was oblivious to it, but the reappearing Thorne caught a glimpse. His shell narrowed around his lense.

"Ruby." He spoke in a hushed voice. She glanced back, noticing his focus, and placed her hand upon Crescent Rose.

She slowly backed herself to the wall and shuffled to its corner by the alley entrance.

"What did you see?" She asked again in her quiet tone.

"I'm not sure, it moves fast. I only managed to catch a glimpse. I'm going to preform a scan, watch my back." He cautionously hovered into the alley; Ruby, with weapon raised, followed close behind him. From where he believed the figure stood, Thorne began his scan. His shells expanded outward, his blue glow emitting a faint light in the darkness surrounding them. His shell then pulsed, like a heartbeat, releasing energy in waves that covered all things that were once concealed by shadows. This happened three times, then his shell returned to its proper form.

"Find anything?...Thorne?" Ruby looked to her friend, who sat stagnant in the air. She walked around to look at his lense, but unlike his body, his eye was bouncing all around like a pinball, as if he was trying to solve some sort of complex equation. "Thorne?" Finally, her words managed to elicit some sort of reaction from him. His eye shot up to look into hers. "What's wrong?"

"L-Light...it's Light." His eye shifted away from her, and he took off of around the corner of the building and down the backstreet. Small beams of light shot from his eyes as he continued to scan the path, like he was tracking something. Ruby chased him.

"Thorne! Slow down! Wait for me!" The Light construct took a sharp turn, disappearing without heeding her directions.

She tried to follow, but a sudden feeling overtook the young huntress; the feeling of a great evil looming over her. A feeling that could cause even the fiercest of Grimm to cower. A red light, like a spotlight, focused onto her from above. She hoped that what she was seeing was only her imagination. Though every fiber of her being told her not to, she looked up to where the light was coming from. Above her, on one of the escape ladders connected to the buildings, a large humanoid figure was perched, watching her like some sort of bird of prey. It's the light from its optics we're blinding. She could hear what sounded like dripping, and looked down to notice an illuminated white liquid smacking in droplets onto the pavement. The red light vanished around her, and the creeking of metal bars made her gaze shift back to where the figure was moments ago, only to see it had vanished. Her eyes grew large with fear. She backed away cautiously, and turned to run down the way they came. Her hope fleeted, as her path was blocked by the same figure that watched her moments ago from above. It was towering over her, at least an extra half of her high. It didn't move when she noticed it, it only stood there, studying her with contempt. She again chose to run the opposite direction, only when it vanished from her sight did she hear the horrifying sound of metal grinding into the brick of the walls behind her.

 _"I'm dreaming, I have to be! I have to find Thorne, we need to get out of here!"_ Ruby heard these words repeatedly in her head as she ran back down the original path, past the disturbing bright liquid. The sound of the metal scrapping stopped, she glanced back to see that there was no one in pursuit of her. She spotted the turn Thorne took earlier, and decided that was her best option, but not before taking the precautions of arming her weapon. She jumped around the corner, Crescent Rose extending out into its scythe form, she spun it around in a flashy display before using the blade tip as an anchor, jamming it into the ground. She aimed the barrel of the weapon down the street, ready just in case the figure was there again, but alas, nothing. She looked back in the direction she came from, nothing. Her eyes thinned, scanning to see if the her pursuer was still in chase. An uproar of electricity erupted in front of her. Her eyes shot to her front as what could only be explained as an electrical storm at ground level engulfed her vision. Dark brooding clouds concealed its form but it's red optic still shined through as a intimidating lighthouse. She panicked, pulling the trigger of her sniper scythe. The high caliber Dust round came roaring from the chamber. It struck the center of its abdomen, the being took the full extent of the shock, but that was it. It looked down at its stomach, reached up with its left hand, it's only human like aspect, and brushed away the Dust residue. It's sights shifted back up to Ruby. Fear filled her face as she gridded her teeth, she yanked Crescent Rose from the concrete. She lifted it high, and swung her weapon in a large arching sweep, trying to clip them in their shoulder. Her strike was met by its own, it's huge right forearm meeting the blade of the scythe. It's gleaming eye refocused on her weapon, studying it from its spiked pommel to the tip of its blade. It looked back at her, then to the top of the joint where the blade connected to the gun barrel, and it's gaze focused. The red light narrowed to a beam, and was directed where there was a screw hole, but no screw. Ruby flashed back to the boat, and thought she knew the exact moment where the screw may have vanished. It threw its hand up and grabbed the top of the weapon and twisted its wrist, to the point that the metal cried out from its strain. And suddenly, at the point where the screw should have been, the pieces of Crescent Rose snapped and went flying. Before they hit the ground, the being lunged forward, gripping Ruby around her head, lifting her effortlessly into the air, and driving her into the brick wall. Her impact cratered the brick and mortar

"THO-!" Ruby tried to scream out, but the figure reacted by rocketing it's right arm forward, it's Roman scissor imbedding itself into the wall.

 **"Hush now child, it'll be over soon...tell me...which way would you want to die."** Ruby's mind began to flood uncontrollably with different images and visions, all of which involved her being viscously murdered. She screamed out in agony, while they weren't real, she felt every snap, every slash, every single thing that happened to her in her mind, she felt the pain. " **There is no reality in which you escape...you are...MINE."** She kicked and screamed for her life, but to no avail. It's eye grew brighter as did it's bloodlust, it ripped its weapon from the wall and prepared to gut her like a pig to slaughter.

 _"I'm sorry...Dad, Yang, Uncle Qrow...Thorne...I'm sorry."_ Thoughts faded to just this as she accepted what was coming, already knowing the type of pain that was coming.

"Apologize NOT accepted!" A voice rang out from the right, and the figure was immediately thrown off of Ruby, a flash of a crimson escorted them away from her. She fell to the ground, breathing heavily as she regained her composure. "I can't believe I left you alone here, it's my fault, I'm an idiot. But I'm here now, and I'm never leaving your side again." A familiar Light construct made its way into her sight, it's small blue illuminated eye bringing all the hope she could ever need. She reached up, cupping her hands around him and pulling him into her chest. Thorne reminisced back to their first day, when she held him in a similar manner.

"Its a Vex, Thorne, you were right."

"I know it is. When I went off alone I intercepted its energy when it teleported, and I came rushing back."

"It spoke to me...it made me die, over, and over again..." Ruby's eyes welled with tears as she pressed her hands to her eyes.

"It spoke to you?" Thorne squeezed himself from her hands and stared to where the Vex fell, Ruby's sparrow severely dented and set ablaze, as he used it as a makeshift battering ram. He watched it clamber to its clawed feet, it's balance slightly distorted from the impact, it's eye shot a glance at the sparrow, and up to Ruby, then to Thorne. Its eye matched up with the Ghost, it's eye starting to radiate with the intensity of a collapsing sun.

 **"I-T'S YO-U."** The Vex's voice glitched and its different tones interlapped, creating a horrific guttural boom.

"That's no ordinary Vex." Thorne warned as it managed to gain footing, hunching over with its larger arm acting as a balancing tool. Thorne scanned the cybernetic monster, and he managed to gain enough information that he could properly identify the Vex, and he now wished that he didn't.

 **Cronus, the Rouge Mind**


	5. Chapter 5: Masque of the Red Death

**Hey everybody, what's going on. I'm M12R0R. And welcome back to another chapter of Brightest in the Dark. I kinda got excited to get back in the groove of this story and instantly started on this chapter the moment I uploaded Chapter 4. I got super excited and the continued support for this story I've received will have me happily working on making this the best I can. We've managed to climb well past 100 followers. Thank you all. Please remember to leave any comments or questions you have, if you'd like to follow and favorite please feel free to, and please enjoy this next chapter!**

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The Vex Mind, Cronus, rose back to its feet, it's claw-like appendages digging into the ground, the wrecked Sparrow dematerializing behind it. It didn't move, not even when Ruby slid up the wall to her feet did it's optic refusing to look away from Thorne. She was still in some pain and possibly shock, but nonetheless, she looked at the cyborg defiantly.

"What do you want? Why are you doing this to people?" She winced when she spoke, reaching up and holding her hand to her throat. Thorne looked to her, his lense containing worry. However, he wanted to learn more about this strange being.

"What's your game, Vex?" The Vex being only glares daggers at the Ghost. And he felt it's gaze, piercing him like a sword.

 **"Are you scared, Ghost. This is the second time you failed to protect the one you care for."** The Vex took a step forward.

"How do you know about that?" The Vex took another step forward. Thorne's lense blinked rapidly with worry as the memories from that day began to flood back.

 **"Because I was there. In the Gate, when you opened it. You awakened me...142..."** Another step was taken. Ruby and Thorne slowly started to back away.

"142?" Ruby asked confused. The Vex shot a look to her.

 **"...That's the number of lives your friend has allowed me take single handily. Law enforcement, Huntsmen...Guardians..."** Thorne's lense widened with fear. **"Not to mention all those who perished because those "defenders" weren't there to protect them. Those lives are countless. Lost, all because of you."** Another step, the Vex was closing in, he stomped in the puddle of Radiolarian fluid it left earlier. **"You should run while you have the chance, child, before he allows you to fall as w-"**

"Thorne!" Ruby called out, to the side of her the Sparrow came back into being. Thorne vanished as Ruby jumped on.

 _"Go!"_ He yelled as a voice in her head. She activated it's thruster, the fire burst out, but they didn't go flying off. They were anchored in place. She looked back and saw that the Rogue Mind was holding onto the back of the vehicle with its left hand. She looked down and took notice of how surprisingly human it was. No exaggerated proportions, just human. Cronus effortlessly began to raise the Sparrow into the air.

 _"Thorne, I'm gonna need that backup you had."_ Ruby said to herself in her head. She hopped up from her Sparrow, she planted her feet on the seat and vaulted off, she flipped back, looking at the Vex the entire time. She held her hands in the position they would look if she had a weapon in her hand. Suddenly, Light from Thorne began to gather and materialize. As the Shepherd's Watch sniper rifle finalized in its creation, Ruby pulled the trigger, sending forth a round that struck the Mind in its fan-like crown. It didn't pierce it, but did cause it to appear in a daze

 _"That's one shot. Three to go, I only had the one clip."_

"That's all I'll need." She said back to him confidently. She redirected her sights to the Sparrow, she fired, the round struck through the main part of the vehicle. It erupted in an explosion that engulfed Cronus. Ruby landed on the fire escape where it was initially perched. There was a cloud of debris, Ruby scanned it, looking for the Vex's light. "Did it teleport?"

 _"No, I would've detected it. Motion sensor is clear. Unless...BENEATH YOU!"_ She looked down and saw a rising bronze figure. She looked up and started to climb, Cronus was right behind her, tearing through the steel that made up the escape. It saw that she was getting away, and it threw its right arm upward, the barrels on its arm beginning to spin.

 _"OH MY GOD IT HAS A MINI GUN!"_ He shouted out as a torrent of molten rounds mowed through the steel. He wasn't aimed at her, but wanted to destroy the part where the escape connected to the brick building. It succeeded, the brick gave way and the escape started to collapse. Cronus leapt off, slamming its arm into the brick and hooking itself and watched for Ruby falling, she jumped up again, reaching up with a hand trying to grip the top of the building. She threw the rifle up and pulled the rest of her body to the top. She dusted off her cape, grabbed her rifle, and readied herself. She aimed the gun at the ledge, waiting for the Vex to rise over it. _"It teleported! Look out!"_ Ruby turned around and saw Cronus reentering reality. She shot at him again, this time not for its abdomen or its head, but for the knee in its leg. The round struck, and the Vex fell to it. _"Last shot, we have to make this count."_ Cronus stumbled up to its foot, but it's leg was weak, it's steps were extremely heavy. It shuffled towards her, as if it was going to lunge at her. She raised her weapon, trained on its optic. Cronus suddenly threw its right hand out, as if it was catching something. Ruby didn't know what it was doing.

"Arhhh! He's got me!" Her eye widened, she looked to where it's hand was again, and it was filled with glitching Light, the same as when Thorne vanishes. Cronus yanked, and ripped Thorne back into the visible plain. "Shoot it, Ruby!"

 **"If you shoot me, and fail, which you will, I'll crush him like a can."**

"Just do it!" Thorne and Cronus' words made Ruby extremely indecisive, she looked panicked. She shot looks between the eye of the Vex and Thorne. Cronus squeezed, a crack forming in his new shell. She fired the round.

 **"Wrong choice."** Cronus bragged. It went to crush Thorne, but it couldn't muster the strength. It looked to it's hand, and noticed a gaping hole in its wrist. It's hand fell, and it released the grip of the Ghost. Thorne flew away and to Ruby's side.

"We're out. Anything else." Ruby looked to her friend.

"I got nothing. I'm sorry." He sounded defeated, like it was his fault they wasted the round on saving him.

 **"How heartwarming, you put the life of your friend before those of the entire universe. Very selfish of you."** Cronus held his right arm up, its barrels beginning to spin. The two looked as the barrels glowed yellow with energy. Thorne flew in front of Ruby, floating in sounds of the mini gun releasing its hailstorm went off, and Ruby grabbed Thorne and pulled him in and closed her eyes. The gun continued to fire, but nothing hit them. Ruby opened her eyes as Thorne did with his own. They looked up to see if the rounds were passing overhead, but they weren't, but they saw a purple energy that was stopping the molten bullets in mid air. They went to look at the Vex, but the sight of a tall blonde woman blocked their path. She held her arm up, holding what appeared to a riding crop as she pointed with two figure, this stance was to hold up a rune-like shape that was catching the rounds and collecting them into the center.

"A Huntress?" Thorne said with some relieved surprise. Ruby's had a similar expression, but awe was present as well.

The light from it eye intensified, and the rate of fire did as well. The rune got smaller, but only to focus higher on the intense gunfire. Cronus ceased, seemingly void of any further ammunition. The woman pushed her glasses she wore up higher on her nose. The rune vanished and all that remains was the cluster of ammunition. With a wave of her crop, the rounds condensed into a serpent-like shape, and shot forward at the Vex. It didn't move as it approached in a winding succession. The top of its arm, the lid of the canister fell, the metal flew forward , going around and trying to confuse Cronus, but the Vex knew regardless. It turned, all of this attack entering its canister. The lid snapped shut, and the barrels started to rotate, heating up its center.

The woman, seeing that she's reloaded the monster's weapon, decided to end things before the metal could be smelted down again. She pulled her crop back, her body became engulfed in a fuchsia glow, and she threw it forward, shooting forth a magenta energy into the sky above. Thick thundering storm clouds condensed above Cronus. The woman threw down her crop, pointing it to the rooftop beneath her. From this storm, icy spear bombarded the Vex like a hailstorm. The metal within its canister was not heated to its proper temp, so Cronus took the full force that the icicles offered. The sheer impact forced it to the ground, they penetrated it's back, making it a cybernetic pin cushion. Sparks went off in its chest, it's eye flickering rapidly.

It powered to its feet. It moved its arms back, causing the ice to fracture and fall to the ground. It looked down to its damaged left arm. It tightened the grip on its hand, clenching it into a fist. The Huntress kept her weapon trained on the Vex, her face cold and emotionless.

 **"Looks like you've gotten the better of me. To be fair, these things are over in a few moments, and I have to use minimal effort..."** A bright purple light begins to resonate from the left hand of the Vex. This energy traveled all the way up its body and into its torso, however, it's legs, head, and right arm were not infused with this energy. **"Guess I've gotten lazy."** Cronus drew its arm back, an orb of this glistening energy condensing into its palm. Thorne's lense widened, getting a sense of deja vu for what was coming.

"We need to move! You can't block what's coming!" The woman turned and looked at Ruby, but noticed the Ghost floating just in front of her. She seemed surprised by this for a moment, but chose to take his words seriously.

 **"Goodbye."** Cronus threw its hand forward, and from it casted a massive ball of Void energy. The woman waved her crop back, and a force pulled Ruby backwards, the two falling from the rooftop. Thorne vanished and flew down after them. The Nova Bomb tried to chase after them, but it's trajectory caused it to collide with the edge of the building. The Void force imploded on itself like a black hole, then it expanded rapidly, causing a massive explosion that devastated the side of the building, ripping a massive hole in its upper half. The Huntress held her crop up, catching the debris before it fell onto them. As she slowly lowered it onto the ground away from them, Cronus peered over the edge, glaring down at Ruby, clearly an intensity in his optic. He turned his body digitizing and vanishing from reality. The woman stood, watching the rooftop as the Vex departed. Ruby managed to her feet, and looked to the woman with astonishment.

"Your a Huntress..." the woman looked down to the girl with a scowling stare. "...can I have your autograph?!" She held her hand up just below her chin, like a puppy begging.

* * *

"I hope you realize that your actions tonight put your life and possibly the lives of dozens of innocent people in harms way. Your lucky that building was a vacant one." The woman paced back and forth, hands behind her back as she lectured the young girl. Thorne hung behind Ruby, remaining concealed since they fell from the rooftop, hoping that the woman would've chalked him up to an adrenaline induced hallucination.

"That thing started it.!" Ruby tried to plead her defense.

 _"To be fair, our whole "shoot first, questions later" attitude didn't help much."_ Thorne added his two cents in through Ruby's thoughts.

"If It were up to me, you would be sent home...with a pat on the back..." She looked down see a smile on her face forming.

 _"Phew, for a second I thought she was going to hit you wi-"_

"...and a slap on the wrist!" The woman attempted to hit Ruby's hand with her crop, but she pulled away just in time.

"E _e_ e _k_!" Ruby and Thorne both released high pitched squeaks at the same time, Thorne's especially squeaky.

"But...there is someone here who would like to meet you." The woman moved out of the way, behind her a door, one where a gray haired man entered. In one hand, a mug, in the other, a tray carrying sweets.

"Ruby Rose..." The man leaned forward, inches from her face, studying her. Ruby pulled away slightly, a little concerned for her personal space.

 _"Woah, okay. He's already a bit too friendly."_

"You...have silver eyes." Ruby, obviously confused, couldn't say much other then make a few attempts at forming words.

"So. Where did you learn to do this?" He gestured back to the woman, who was holding a tablet up. On its screen it displayed an angled view looking down of the alley opposite of the building that was destroyed. It showed her fighting Cronus after Thorne came back, the video starting when she attempted to escape using the Sparrow. "Also, if you don't mind, explaining..." The video rewinded back, to when the Sparrow first crashed into the Vex. It zoomed in on Ruby, the video clarified, and obviously displayed what was Thorne, hovering by her side. "What this is..."

 _"Oh no. Busted."_ Ruby's eyes grew wide slightly, but held her composure just enough to not draw their attention.

"Umm. Well, okay you see...that is a...drone...that..."

"Ms. Rose, there is no reason for you to be nervous. We aren't going to say anything to anyone. You have my word." Those his words were sincere, Ruby still wasn't sure about revealing her secret.

"Okay." Thorne's voice resonated within her head as normal, but the man and woman both looked around for the source of the voice, meaning he wasn't speaking just in her head. Suddenly, to the side of her head, a familiar Ghost reappeared "What is it that you wanted to talk to us about?"

* * *

Within a dark room, a man stood with a tool in hand, tinkering with some sort of machine, while he himself was quiet, the melody of classical music was being played softly in the background. There were a multitude of machines and works in process placed in organized and neat fashion. A magnifying lamp was held in front of his face. He was clearly middle aged, tanned skin and dark hair, with a well groomed mustache to match. He wore a gray overcoat with yellow accents, a magenta vest, matching yellow dress shirt, and a black neck tie. He also had on a pair of wielding goggles, his only protection for his green eyes as sparks flew from the project he was working on. As he was about to preform a precision step in his process, the lights in the room overhead started to flicker on and off in rapid succession, the machinery started to go haywire. The tools on his workbench started to vibrate, and the ground began to shake slightly. The man sighed, as if he knew what this was. A bright light emerged behind him, and an emerging form a damaged Cronus stormed in, visibly as upset as it was injured.

 **"Doctor!"** Cronus shouted out as he walked to the corner of the room, where a seemingly reinforced patient's chair sat. The Vex threw itself onto it, slamming its broken left arm into the chair's own, causing it to lose all the control that it managed to hold, making it fall limp. This only angered Cronus further. The doctor pulled his goggles down, making them rest around the base of his neck.

"Well hello to you too, Cronus. Your prey fought back tonight, I see." He spoke with a refined accent and proper way of speaking. The man walked around to the Vex's left side and grabbed hold of its forearm, examining the bullet hole in its wrist.

 **"I found it, doctor. The Ghost that brought me here. It's alive."** The doctor looked up curiously, now fully invested in what Cronus had to say.

"It's alive? You mean that you failed to dispose of it?" The doctor walked around to its back, noticing the multitude of puncture wounds.

 **"It's already undergone symbiosis with someone else, this girl."** Cronus looked down to its right arm and moved it at the joint. Suddenly, the massive hunk of metal fell from its shoulder, the magnetic force holding it to its body releasing. The crash caused the doctor to jolt up.

"Must you?" The man spoke with condescension and irritation, but it caused a disturbing laughter to echo from the Vex. "So you were bested by a child...and her floating ball." The man's condescending continued, but it caused Cronus to stop laughing, and glare at the doctor until he noticed.

 **"This child was different, there was just something...off..."** Cronus looked off as if he was thinking, the man walked away while it pondered and retrieved a small, precision saw. He returned, pulling a chair to the side and began carving into the Vex's damaged wrist.

"Well, regardless of how "off" this girl was, you allowed someone to finally escape you. She will report this incident to the authorities, and it will leave the police and Huntsman academy on high alert. They'll have your description, your elements of surprise will be gone." The doctor removed the external armor from the arm, showing its internal wiring and components.

 **"I know. I know. I know, you don't have to tell me what I already know."** If Cronus could hold a hand to rub its eye from the frustration, it would.

"You realize that this isn't going to bode well for you in the eyes of the Lady, right?" He severed the wrist, removing the hand from the rest of the arm.

 **"Again, I know this, I understand what she does with those she deems useless. But there is a way that I can still prove more then useful."**

"Ohh? And how's that."

 **"Well, I am an abundant source of any information she need, in the span of the last hour I've rerouted several shipments of Dust to our associates in Vale."**

"That wouldn't cut it for someone of your...particular skill set."

 **"I don't wish to sit on the side, however her tactics of quiet intervention don't suite me."**

"So what are you suggesting?" The man looked to the Vex with a raised eyebrow and curios gaze.

 **"I believe that I can bring about the results of our former agreement, but in a direct approach. In order to do that...I need her to loosen the leash. I need to expand my mind."**

"The few times you have even attempted to create your "expansions", she destroyed them outright without a moment's hesitation, she knows how powerful you could become, she wishes not to have the possibility of you rivaling her."

 **"She will need to take that chance in order for me to succeed in the understanding of the Sword Logic, and once I do I will be able to give her all she wishes."**

"Speaking of which, why is it that you need to rely on this cult religion, how is it supposed to be of any use."

 **"From my understanding of what Quria collected and returned to the network, a being needs to ensure the destruction and slaughter of all things that cannot protect themselves, the more deaths, the stronger a being will become. This survival of the fittest, once it is mastered, one could possess the strength a god. But that is not my goal. Your master offered me salvation in the face of annihilation, for that I will offer her everything she could ever want. I must accomplish this. And to do that...well...Doctor Watts, what is your experience in the field of biomechanics."** Watts was taken back for a moment, but a smile of excitement grew beneath his mustache. But his thoughts soon retracted to usual, doubtful self.

"And the Ghost, what are you to do about it?"

 **"I'll let it play house for now, but, when the time comes...consider it erased."**

* * *

"So this...Cronus? This being followed you when you were sent her. And this creature has somehow managed to harness this "Light" that your Guardians use in addition to its abilities to time travel, teleport, manipulate your thoughts, and an abundance of other things. Does that about sum this up?" The man sat, holding his hands folded in front of his mouth. Thorne and Ruby looked to each other, then back to him.

"Yeah that's about it."

"That covers it." Ruby said nodding slightly.

"Well Ms. Rose, and Mr. Thorne, I do appreciate your openness with all this. Especially since you have kept this secret from your family for over 10 years."

"Well, I'm surprised your so calm about this." Ruby smiled nervously.

"We sorta just...KABOOM'd your entire perception of your reality." Thorne elaborated. The man chuckled to himself.

"Yes, while this is all surprising to hear, I have seen more then my fair share of odd occurrences over my years."

"So, what's next?" Thorne asked looking to the man with concern.

"If your referring this entire situation, we will be making all professional Huntsmen and Police forces aware of the identity of Cronus, they need to be prepared for the future. And we will allow for some of the details to reach the media, however will censor the details. Meaning what Cronus is and you yourself will be left out. Vale will see Cronus as the killer it is, and that Ms. Rose was successful able to defend herself against a serial killer that has never let someone escape."

"Thank you, sir, it really does mean a lot to us." Thorne spoke with absolute sincerity, this reaction to him as truly counteracted all his previous expectations.

"My pleasure. Now, onto my other reason for my visit tonight. Ms. Rose, though your scythe was destroyed, you still showed resourcefulness and composure in the face of a greater force. It truly was astounding to see your skill for someone so young."

"I did have some good teachers." She said glancing over towards her friend. Then she reached down to the cookie tray and snatched one up.

"I see..." The man stood up from his chair.

"I did manage to recognize a few techniques in your scythe wielding, and it just reminded me of a dusty old crow I know."

"That's my uncle." Ruby said with food muffling her voice and crumbs spilled out of her mouth. Thorne rolled his lense.

She swallowed before she continued. "Sorry, that's my Uncle Qrow, he taught me how to at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. With him and Thorne's help I'm all like...Wahhhh...Witchaaa...Pew pew pew!" She made some karate chops, and then went to acting like she's shooting dual revolvers. The man chuckled, the woman behind stood like a cold statue with a glare to match, but rolled her eyes at Ruby's goofiness.

"So we've noticed." He placed his mug on the table and leaned onto it. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well...I want to be a Huntress."

"You want to slay monsters."

"Well I do have two more years at Signal before I apply to Beacon." As she spoke her excitement grew, and she began to speak faster and faster with every passing word. "Ever since I've been little my parents taught us to help people. And when I met Thorne he told me all these stories about the Guardians and how they save people so I figured it was fate that I would help people so I was like "Eh, might as well make a career out of it." She giggled to herself, however continuing on with her rambling. "I mean the police are fine but Huntsmen and Huntresses are so much like the Guardians and are so romantic and awesome and exciting and really just GOSH! You know!" She threw her arms out, accidentally smacking Thorne in the shell.

"Ow. Ow. Ow." Thorne complained, blinking his lense rapidly as he regained his balance next to her. The two adults stared down at the duo, studying them intently. "I think their gonna whack us?" Ruby glanced to Thorne, who was shaking himself in a frantic nodding motion.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon." Ruby said with a smile.

"He's a high up official, he can easily depose of us. No one will know." Thorne continued on with his nonsensical assumption that Ozpin would kill them. Ruby pushed Thorne away slightly.

"Hello." Ozpin spoke with a smile.

"Nice to meet you."

"You would like to come to my school?"

"More than anything."

Ozpin glanced back to the woman behind him, she clearly had some disapproval, but he didn't care. He looked back to Ruby, then to Thorne.

"Well I think we have room for you, and your friend." Ruby's eyes widened with a smile growing massive. Thorne's lense grew wide as well.

"So we aren't gonna die?!" The Ghost ecstatically shouted with joy. His dreams for Ruby starting to come true.


	6. Chapter 6: The Sun, The Moon, The Truth

**Hey how's it going everyone, I'm M12R0R, and welcome back to yet another installment of Brightest in the Dark! I want to thank you all for the continued support of this story. I absolutely been lovely the feed back for this story. I love the speculations and praise, it means the world to me. We continue to climb in both Followers and Favorites, its truly great. As for some comments and questions you've all been leaving.**

 **WritersMind : I loved reading the information and questions you raised. Yes, I know that a Vex using Void light is illegal and illogical and impossible, but to you and all who are speculating...all will be revealed in time. Mwahahah-*coughs*. But continue to speculate, i love reading the ideas.**

 **Without further delay, onto the next chapter!**

* * *

With the light of the moon reflecting off the surface of the Traveler and it's shattered pieces, Hawthorne's perch was well lite as the members of the Vanguard gathered. The last to arrive was Zavala, with two additional Guardians in tow behind him. The one to his right was tall, a Warlock with a leathery robe acquired from the Exodus Black. His gauntlets and boots originated from the Lost Pacific Arcology He was human, a man with warm olive skin, which contrast his eyes, a light blue that if one looked closely enough they would spark as though they were about to surge with Arc energy. He keeps his hair virtually nonexistent, having a fully shaved head, which Cayde would say has an appearance of a bowling ball. As for the other to Zavala's left, was a shorter figure, a Hunter with a tattered black cloak, the symbol of Dead Orbit on her shoulder and cape. Unlike her counterpart, she was Awoken, like Zavala, but with a strange black Mohawk, one the started at the center and curved around her head and flowed out the back right of her head. Her eyes were a glowing orange, with the power of the Sun in her stare. Her skin was a duller blue then Zavala's and her lips had a touch of purple added in. While most of her outfit consisted of attire from Dead Orbit, she had a glossy monochrome Road Complex aa1 chestpiece. Though her color scheme was similar to this, the purple Gemini Jester pants gave her a small splash of vibrancy. As the three ascended the final steps, the caught the attention of Cayde, Ikora, and Hawthorne, who were all patiently waiting for there arrival. Their formation broke apart, the Awoken Hunter found herself settling into the corner, leaning against the wall. The Warlock walked over to the railing where Cayde-6 was leaning back, flipping his knife in his hand. The Warlock waved his hand subtly, and caused Cayde's knife to start to float up, out of the obnoxious Exo's reach. Zavala stood tall in the center of the terrace.

"We're all here, good. Now we can begin." Zavala started to speak. "I know that each and every one of you are aware of the disappearances we've been undergoing on with Guardians on IO, more specifically, in one Vex stronghold. This stronghold, that we nicknamed "The Gateway to Tartarus", is where we've lost contact with numerous of our own, including our champion of the Red War. It started with him, then we attempted a rescue with Mishal, then she was lost. After that, we lost an additional six, each of them Guardians investigating on Venus for their own reasons."

"Well do we know if they came across this "Gateway". Guardians get killed off for being careless all the time, nothing new." The Hunter in the corner spoke up, flipping her hair away from her eyes. Zavala glanced back at her, unappreciative of her carelessness on the matter.

"I would think that you would be a little more concerned with a member your own Fireteam, Addilyn, especially when he's the reason we are all standing in the first place." Ikora glared down the Awoken Hunter, striking down her attitude. Addilyn looked away with an irritated expression.

"Anyways..." as Zavala continued to present all the information they knew, Cayde leaned over towards the Warlock.

"So, what's the deal with "It's not a phase, Mom!" over there?" He kept his focus on Zavala, but he was still acknowledging the Vanguard leader.

"She's been really upset since he disappeared, she's just putting on a brave face..."

"..."brave" is an interesting choice..."

"...but I know deep down she's really hurting. I tried talking to her, she just pushes me out."

"Does she need a talking from her Vanguard? I don't mean to brag, but I know a thing or two about the ladies."

"You, Cayde. You only know how to kick the hornets' nest."

"Stratus, is there something you or Cayde would like to add?" The two's conversation ceased, they looked to see that Commander Zavala was staring directly at them.

"As a matter of fact, Commander I believe I do. While yes, what you were explaining was indeed correct, that the Vex in this stronghold are a force to be reckoned with, I don't believe that what we are facing here is a usual case. Cirrus." Stratus looked to his side, and his Ghost appeared. Its shell, containing what looked like a star map, extended outward. It displayed a series of different frequencies.

"So I know that these series of squiggly lines don't make a lot of sense. But these are Vex frequencies. The top one represents the frequencies of the Vex who originated at this stronghold. This frequency appears 999/1000 that we recorded when they arrived. All the Vex use it. The second, is the one. This is the frequency that appeared several times before the second disappearance. But after this appeared, all of the original frequency slowly began disappearing."

"So this frequency represents a different Vex?" Ikora asked her student.

"Yes. But what worries me is what this entails. To me, this shows that there was some sort of hostile takeover."

"You mean that there is a conflict inside the Vex collective." Commander Zavala was intrigued.

"I'm saying that there is something that is trying to override the Vex network, it's trying to take control. This thing is possibly one singular Mind. And it has the power to just...erase...other Vex, not even Atheon, Brakion, Argos, even Panoptes, none of these could even wish to accomplish this. I've spoken to Asher and consulted Osiris on the matter. With the combination of their research and simulations they concluded that there is only one possibility. And we aren't gonna like it." Everyone on the terrace focused on the Warlock. He looked around, and then up to the Traveler. Even though he was hiding it, he wished that he never kicked the hornets' nest, as he couldn't escape an overwhelming feeling of dread.

* * *

In the days following the events of that night, the name of "Ruby Rose" was one that spread all throughout the city of Vale. Like Headmaster Ozpin pointed out, the story was censored heavily, any possible mention of Thorne or a murderous robot from another dimension was discarded. She was sort of famous, becoming a household name for several days.

After that night happened, Ruby returned to her sister as quickly as possible. Yang was visibly upset. She initially welcomed her safely home with a warm hug, happy she was okay. But, her attitude soon shifted, and it wasn't long before she entered a in-depth discussion on staying safe.

"I can't believe you went after that guy! Do you know how stupid that was! Honestly, Ruby, your lucky you got away intact!" Yang was pacing back and forth in front of the sofa in their home's living room. Ruby was seated on said sofa, watching her sister as she ranted.

"Aren't you always telling me to try to be more like you? To be more outgoing and to take more risks."

"That doesn't mean that you go out and chase after serial killers! I mean going out and making new friends or something like that." Ruby could see that she was only making her sister angrier

"Whatcha what! How was I supposed to know this?!"Ruby threw her hands up into the air.

Yang walked over and sat on the chair adjacent to the sofa, the one that came as a set. She let out a sigh, in an attempt calm herself. Ruby saw this and felt bad, she looked down to her hands and began to twirl her thumbs.

"I'm sorry, Yang. I didn't mean to make you worry. You were right, I was lucky." Yang looked over to her sister.

"Look sis, I'm just trying to look out for you. Most of the time it's just you and me, Dad and Uncle Qrow are always away, we're all we have left." Ruby looked up, there eyes meeting each other. She could see the sincerity and actual worry that Yang was filled with. "Honestly I don't know what I would do without you."

"Yang..." Ruby felt her throat tightening with emotion. "...when you saved me from that Ursa, you told me that you've always got my back. And as a sister, I know that I haven't returned you that favor. We're family, and family should always be there for each other. But..." Ruby felt her eyes welling. Yang looked at her sister.

"Ruby, its okay, you just being my sister is your way of returning that favor."

"...it's not that...you've always been honest with me, always told me the truth. And..." She looked up and had the tears start to glide against her cheek. "...tonight was my wake up call...I need to be honest with my sister. Something I haven't been in 10 years." Yang, looked to her, slightly puzzled.

"What do you mean, Rubes." Ruby drew in breath.

"Since Mom died, that toy that I found in the woods, which wasn't actually a toy but a sentient flying robot from another dimension that has been my best friend and taught me all these things about its world including that it's been searching for its Guardian, which is a resurrected person who together help defend their universe from evil." The room grew quiet as Yang absorbed all that her sister just spouted out. The seconds felt like hours passing. Suddenly, the sound of intense laughter erupted from Yang. Ruby was straight faced, completely expecting an angry or unpleasant reaction.  
Yang's laughter quieted as she wiped tears of joy away from her eyes.

"Okay, okay, I get it, we were getting really deep there for a minute. Good to see that you were just kidding about that whole lying thing."

"I still have dirt inside my lense from the time you threw me in the mud." A male voice from behind Yang caused her to leap out of her chair. Her bracelets extended down and formed into gauntlets, her weapon Ember Celica. Yang punched forward, causing a shotgun blast to fire out, blasting through the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. Yang looked around for the intruder, her eyes shifting from the soft lilac to the glowing red rage. But she saw no one. "Even though I knew she would do that it still scared me to...wait do Ghosts actually die?" Yang looked down to see Ruby's "toy", now hovering slightly off the ground with its center illuminated, like an eye staring back at her. Disbelief grew on her face as this once stagnant object flew gracefully between her feet and up to Ruby's shoulder. Yang turned around, looking at Thorne then back to her sister.

"Ruby...what is that?"

"Heh. Yang, I would like you to meet Thorne...officially. Thorne, officially meet my sister, Yang." Ruby gestured back and forth with her hands as she introduced the two. Yang was understandably still in slight shock.

"Thorne?" Yang asked confused.

"Every rose as one" Thorne happily glanced over to Ruby.

"So, what are you?" She was unsure with speaking directly to the little floating robot. Thorne flew up and a little closer to the blonde brawler.

"I'm a Ghost, well technically I'm Ruby's Ghost. Well, technically technically I'm my Guardian's Ghost...but he's dead." Thorne bluntly stated, Failsafe's way of speaking coming to mind as a comparison in his memory. Yang looked past Thorne to Ruby.

"Why did you keep this from me, what did you think I couldn't be trusted, your own sister?" Some frustration was quite clear in her voice.

"Yang...I know that I shouldn't have kept it from you. I was just afraid that you'd wanna take him away from me. He was always there for me..."

"I was always there for you!" Yang lashed out, feeling betrayed.

"Can I say something." Thorne softly spoke up.

"NO!" Yang shouted at the Ghost.

"Don't yell at him!" Ruby let out in a sudden outburst, Yang and Thorne were taken back, as Ruby has never really reacted with such volume. "I never said that you weren't Yang, it's just different with Thorne. He's always linked to me, he can stop me feeling bad about something before I can even think about, he's a part of me."

"Ru-" Thorne was about to speak again, but Ruby wasn't quite finished with her outburst.

"And I don't care if you don't like it, Yang! He's my best friend and he's not goi-"

"Enough!" Thorne was now the one yelling. Ruby stopped her ranting, and both her and Yang's attentions were fixated upon this Ghost. "Just enough..." His voice simmered down to an almost hushed whisper, nonetheless, they still looked at him. "This is all my fault." Thorne's view shifted to Ruby's sister. "Yang, don't get mad at your sister. I should have stayed truth to my instincts. Everything that happened last night, I'm the one to blame. And not just that, I'm the one that told her not to tell you about me, I made her lie." Thorne turned and met Ruby's eyes. "So, Yang is in the right to yell at me. As your sister, she is allowed to be worried for you, you could have been killed because of my carelessness. I'm just a defective Ghost. You should have left me in the woods where you found me." He shook his shell back and forth, ridding himself of the negativity. "So you two, kiss and makeup. Ruby, apologize for your outburst, she's justified in her anger. And Yang, I'm sorry, for causing all this mess, for the past decade of lies, last night, everything." Thorne then disappeared before they could readdress him. The sisters are left looking at each other, unsure of what to do next.

* * *

The night was soon about to end, there was dew that coated the outside of the house, none of this bothered Thorne, as he was always suspended off the ground. He was floating just off the roof of the family's home. He sat awaiting the light of the sun to break the plane of the horizon. He was wondering what the girls were doing. He had been away from them for several hours. He didn't know what happened after he left. He hoped for them to make up, but them breaking out into an all out brawl was just as likely. It wasn't until a bang on the edge of the roof gave him some form of an answer. He glanced over, noticing the noise was the rings of a ladder banging against the tiles that covered the surface of the roof. He heard steps being taken. He waited for Ruby's head to poke out, but was surprised to see a flowing mane of gold, as bright as a sun, rear up from the edge. Yang gained her footing atop the angled surface. She had switched from her usual look and into an orange t shirt and short black shorts. Thorne glanced over to her, and then back away, afraid of what she may say. He had a thousand thoughts going through his head at once as she approached. She took a seat next to him. Her knees up with her arms resting atop them.

 _"Is she going the yell at me like before? Will she tell me just to get out? Or is she just going to crush me. I mean she can see the crack in my shell, will she start there or-"_

"I want to start out by apologizing to you." Thorne felt complete surprise, he now looked to Yang, complete attention on her. "Ruby told me about your past, and what you've gone through. I get it, not wanting to risk losing someone else you care about."  
She glanced down to the little light. "You've been here the whole time. You know that we basically had to raise ourselves. I don't care that you and Ruby didn't tell our dad and uncle, I was only upset because you didn't tell me. I had to go through everything she did, and I was stuck handling it all on my own. I appreciate what you've done for my sister, but I don't see why I needed to be out of the loop." Thorne looked down at the tile of the roof, his eye blinked, as he considered what she said.

"Your right. I was connected to Ruby's emotions for so long, I was blinded towards everyone else's." He rose a little higher to her level, and hovered over to directly in front of her. "I'm sorry for the lying, and that I wasn't smart enough to notice Yang. I can't give you recompense for the pain you went through over the years, but, if you'd let me, I want to try to make it up to you. That means, when it's just us three, I won't hide, I'll talk to you, and I'll be there for anything you need. You just say the word."

"Does that mean we can throw you around again?" Yang's somber attitude shifted, a mischievous smile grew on her face. Thorne's shell lowered over his lense.

"Don't push it." She snickered to herself a bit. Thorne even laughed to himself as he glanced back behind him, the sun starting to break the horizon in the distance. He turned back to the other sun directly in front of him. "So, I think we should try this again. I'm Thorne."

"Yang."

"Well Yang, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Well Thorne, it's good to finally get to meet you, my sister's just told me a lot about you."

"And I about you." The ladder once again began to squeak. "Speaking of which, there she is." Ruby's reddish hair breached over the edge of the roof. She, like her sister, was also dressed in her pajamas.

"Everything okay up here?" She just barely looked over the roofline to see if any carnage had unfolded.

Thorne and Yang both glanced over to her, then back at each other.

"Just making new friends." Yang said with a smile, Ruby's eyes lit up with joy as she came over to the two and hugged her sister, happy to see that the issue had been resolved. She sat down beside her, Thorne flew around and took up a spot between them.  
The three watched as the sun slowly began to rise into the sky.

"This is so symbolic." Thorne started, with peace in his voice. "We finally got everything out in the open, everyone is happy, we're all friends, and we're all going to Beacon soon." Ruby facepalmed as Yang's face began to light up, not with anger, but rather joy.

"YOU GOT INTO BEACON!" She dove over and tackle in sister in a massive hug, almost squeezing the life out of her.

* * *

Several days after their meeting, the Vanguard came to an agreement on what needed to be done. Stratus' information was greatly concerning, he concluded that something, Vex or not, was overtaking the Collective. While this could be seen as a good thing, eliminating the Collective, something that powerful needed to be stopped before it could gain a foothold. So, to do this, the Vanguard sought to assemble a fireteam, of a similar size to the one sent to the Leviathan and the Hive realms. This team consisted of two of each of the Guardian classes. Two Titans, two Hunters, and two Warlocks. Both of these Titans were Strikers as they would prove useful if they became overrun by the enemy. One of the Hunters was a Nightstalker, chosen for their remarkable tracking skill, one that might prove useful if clues to where the lost Guardians were. The other Warlock was a Voidwalker, for their sheer destructive capabilities against stronger opponents. As for the remaining Hunter and Warlock, they were none other then the ones who were apart of the Vanguard meeting, Addilyn and Stratus. Stratus was involved for his research and knowledge on the area and the Gateway. Aside from this, his training in the way of the Stormcaller would prove to be quite useful against the mechanical Vex. As for Addilyn, she refused to not be apart of it, while the Vanguard were hesitant, her cleverness and skill made her a formidable Gunslinger. The fireteam was coming out of transit from the Last City. The six jumpships exited from their Warp and in the distant was Jupiter's moon, IO. As they approached, Stratus radioed into the Vanguard, as he was the designated fireteam leader for this mission.

"Vanguard, this is Guardian ship 3399, we are in approach to IO and preparing to enter its atmosphere." Stratus switched on his communications with his teammates. "Be advised, fireteam, we will be touching down at the transmat zone in the Lost Oasis. From there we will travel on foot into this stronghold. For all we know this could be another entry point into the Pyramidion, so expect resistance from both the Vex and possibly the Taken." As the members of the fireteam radioed in, the squadron of ships entered down into the sky, they passed over top the Pyramidion, and began to descend closer to the rocky surface. *Prepare for transmat. Addilyn, I need you to mak sure t-"

"LOOK OUT!" One of the Titans shouted over the team's radio. Stratus shot his head forward, and was met by the sight of a massive black object appearing spontaneously in front of him.

"Everyone, evasive maneuvers!" Addilyn called out over the radio. Stratus pulled up, as well as the Nightstalker. The other all banked to the left and right. Stratus steadied his ship, and looked back to see what could have possibly appeared so quickly and was that large.

"Tombships?" The Voidwalker questioned with trouble in his tone.

"The Hive." Addilyn growled.

"What the hell are they doing on IO?" The Nightstalker, who pulled up with Stratus, complained.

"Team fall back, LZ is too hot right now. Let's land and replan at the Rupture's transmat instead." Stratus called out. The group did as he said, the Guardian's regrouped just north of the Pyramidion. From there, the team mounted there Sparrows, and descended through the narrow passageway towards the Lost Oasis. Upon arrival, they counted a minimum of five Tombships that were hovering above the ground all across the open area. The Guardians dismounted their Sparrows and continued forth on foot. They kept to the shallow ditches, in order to stay out of sight of the Hive. While they pressed on, Addilyn contacted the Vanguard.

"You all mind telling me what the Hive are doing here." She spoke with little to no respect towards the Vanguard.

 _"Family reunion?_ " Cayde, as usual, joked and made little of the situation.

 _"The Hive do directly cooperate with the Taken. Perhaps the one who has claim the Taken crown for themselves is gathering an army here on IO. Be vigilant, fireteam."_ Ikora warned the Guardians as the can to the end of their cover. They clung to the shadows, Stratus stopped his team just before they left them. Across the open terrain was a towering rock wall. At its base was their destination, the entrance into the subterranean Vex stronghold, it was the Gateway to Tartarus.

"We make a run for the entrance on three. One, two, thr-" A deafening shriek invaded the squad's ears. From above them, a concussive crash followed by the falling body of a Taken Captain. The Taken leapt back to its feet, completely unaware of the six Guardians, and released another shriek. It was focus up towards the perch it came from. Addilyn raised her scout rifle, ready to drop this twisted shadow, but Straus placed his hand atop it, wanting her to hold off a moment. Sure enough, a series of heavy footsteps followed by some of the ground falling atop the Guardians. A booming roar matched the Taken Captain's cry. This Captain aimed its Shrapnel Launcher up, firing its solar rounds at the unknown assailant. A massive dark form crashed down into the ditch. This form stood tall, bone-like faintly purple armor covered it. In its hand a massive battle axe of the same material of its body. Without hesitation, this being raised its axe and brought it down swiftly, cleaving the Taken in two. It's cry echoed out, as its body collapsed in on itself. The fireteam stood almost awestruck, their mouths agape beneath their helmets by the viscousness of this attack. They still refused to move, studying what was transpiring in front of them. This figure turned back up towards the ground it leapt down from, but this confirmed something for the fireteam. This being's shining lime green eye determined to them that this being was a Hive Knight . It raised its axe and pointed forward in the direction the Guardians were headed. It roared out, and the sound of at least a hundred other Hive beings returned its call. It was oblivious to the fireteam still, as it trudged foward. Their Ghosts scanned this Hive Knight, trying to get some form of information on it.

 **Dogron, Retainer of the King**

 _"Retainer of the King? Does that mean Oryx?"_ Zavala finally entered into the call. Stratus thought about it for a moment, and from the Knight's name to purple coloration associated with the Blood of Oryx sect of the Hive, it was entirely possible.

 _"But Oryx controlled the Taken, so why in the world are his goons attacking his other goons."_ Cayde was becoming invested in the mission now, curious of what was happening.

 _"Unless the Hive that served his court don't agree with the Taken's new master."_ Ikora pondered.

 _"So it's not only the Vex experiencing rebellion within their ranks."_ Zavala added in as the Vanguard continued to try to deduce what was happening on this moon. Stratus peeked out, and watched as a swarm of Thralls clambered over one another, pouring through the opening of the Gateway.

"Now we have the Hive entering into the Gateway. What should we do, Vanguard?"

 _"Press forward, Guardians. The Hive should be a substantial distraction while you investigate, and make sure you mop up anything left alive."_

"Understood, Commander, Cirrus will be sending you footage once we enter through. Fireteam leader Stratus, out." Stratus looked back at the line of Guardians behind him, then back to where the Hive were, and saw as the Hive Knight Dogron was the last of his horde to enter. "Alright team, follow Addilyn's hellead, and watch the signals. Let's move." Stratus rolled out from the cover. He leapt up, using his Burst Glide to soar across the open area. Behind him the other Guardians followed suit. He landed several feet in front of the opening, watching to make sure the Tombships hadn't taken any notice. Luckily, it seemed the ships were focus firing down on stray Taken patrols.  
He waited for the last member of his fireteam to enter the Gateway, and he followed behind, taking up the rear and watching their backsides. Addilyn was on point, having the best observational skill.

As the team descended into the depths of the rock through this underground passageway, the walls began to slowly convert. What was once ancient and beautiful layering of sedimentary rock was progressively becoming a cold machinery connected to the Vex Collective. The sickening scent of rot and decay filled the air, this was due to the mass of extraterrestrial insectoid zombies that just swarmed their way in. This Vex stronghold was extremely simplistic, only have this massive passage as the only mean of exit and entry. For what felt like miles, the team trekked forward. Eventually, the passage began to widen. Addilyn held a fist up, and the team halted their movements. The sound of deafening howls, weapons firing off, and weapons clashing against one another. The Gunslinger Hunter pressed her back to the wall and slowly scooted forward. She leaned her head into the opening. From what see saw, it matched the description of the footage from the lost Dawnblade's Ghost. The cluster of rocks near the entryway, and in the back against the wall was the ancient Warp Gate that was shown. But there were somethings off. Unlike when the Dawnblade visited, the walls adjacent to the back had now converted into machines, with deep ledges which traveled back seemingly endlessly as it was cloaked in an dark abyss. The floor, which was littered in the remains of Vex of all timelines, was now clean of their carcasses, but now promptly replaced with the bloody and severed pieces differing Hive. And finally, the Vex Gate, which at the time was deactivated, was now glowing white with the chronological energy of a Vex conflux.

"Looks like what took care of the Vex is now devastating Oryx's best. This is a bloodbath." Addilyn relayed the scene to her team, as Stratus' Ghost hovered above her head, showing the Vanguard what she was talking about. The sounds of the Hive's weapons' was gone, their cries silenced, but all that remained was the sound of blades clashing, but from where could not be pinpointed, the echoing of the cavern was too intense. Addilyn, wanted to be able to see what was happening, took it upon herself. She ran from her corner, the Titan behind her tried to grab her, but she was too quick.

"Dammit, Addilyn." The Hunter jumped up, climbing to the ledge that led into the darkness. She slowly crept around, making it so the massive stone outcrop was no longer blocking her vision. From her perch. She saw more of the dismembered Hive Acolytes and Thralls, there bodies littering the stone floor. These bodies congregated more as they came closer to the room's center. But they were lacking in one spot, forming a ring amidst the sea of their fresh corpses. In this ring, what appeared as two figures were clashing. The one, the larger of the two, was Dogron, Retainer of the King. The other was unknown, but by its proportions and glowing red optic, it was presumably Vex. The Vex was circling around the Knight, as if it was toying with it. Though it looked like a Vex, this being didn't move like one. It had a humanistic demeanor to it, one that was rather unsettling to say the least. Addilyn looked back to the entrance, seeing her fireteam looking at her, Stratus having a meltdown with her reckless uncooperativeness. She gestured with her hand, signaling for someone to come. Stratus took a step, but she quickly dismissed him, then his Ghost began to fly forward. She gave a thumbs-up as the Ghost hovered at her side, seeing the two being in the center of the cavern, giving the Vanguard a look at what she saw. She continued to watch.

 **"Your king once considered the Vex to be a worthy adversary. But the years took there toll. Your master is gone, and here you are, the last of your kind, a relic of a recent forgotten order. Much like I was, but here I am, now the last of my kind on this moon..."**

 _"Is that Vex...talking?_ " Cayde said through the comms.

 **"...we do have a difference, Dogron. You cling to your past. You were so eager to see your king again that you blindly led the last of your brood here, where you believe he sent out some sort of signal. It's funny how simplistic your communications are, I could even replicate him so effortlessly."**

 _"This has to be the Vex that wiped out this Collective. And now it's going after the Hive? What's going on here?"_ You could feel the worry resonating in Zavala's voice.

 **"Now then, Retainer of the King, show the Rogue Mind what an Ascendant Hive is made of. Display what your Sword Logic has to offer."**  
Dogron roared forth, his war cry causing the rock above to fracture and fall. The Knight swung its axe forward, scraping the ground, launching shrapnel of stone at the Vex. Cronus used its massive lumbering arm to deflect most of the projectiles. This gave Dogron a chance to lunge forward. It grabbed the Mind by its weapon arm and lifted it high, in a single motion, it swung down, slamming its body into the rock. The Vex seemed undeterred by this, not even reacting to the impact. It raised its massive battle axe high, bringing it down with immense force. Cronus, seeing this coming, rolled its body backwards, raising its legs into the air. It's clamp like cybernetic feet caught the edge of the weapon, keeping it from striking it down. The Knight roared out once again, trying to apply as much force as possible to strike its foe down. Cronus strained its body, trying to find a solution out, then it got an idea. It pointed its right arm at the Hive Knight, and began to fire molten rounds into the Hive's chest. Dogron reeled back in pain slightly, giving Cronus just enough of an opening. The Vex's body started to digitize, disappearing from reality. The Hive's axe continued forward, crashing into the ground and rippling the surface. As it cratered the remains of its fallen brood went flying into the air. An arm of a Thrall flew over the rocky outcrop, and slapped one of the Strikers across the head. Addilyn smirked slightly, and continued to watch as the Knight searcher around for the Vex. She was completely unaware that from the shadows behind her shifted, and a pair of red glowing eyes started to intensify, this along with a series of accents, illuminated a bone white skull that was staring at her from behind.

Dogron's rage grew the longer Cronus hid from it. From above, it failed to notice that a Vex platform started to materialize itself, with Cronus standing atop it. It leaned over the ledge of its floating platform. Some Radiolaria began to drip down from its mouth, splashing onto the helmet of the Knight. It didn't notice this, and gave Cronus a prime opportunity. The Vex let itself fall from its platform, it came down with great speed. It pointed its right arm forward, and when it got in range of Dogron, it plummeted its Roman Scissor into the crease of its armor, where the neck was exposed so it could move its neck around. The weapon sliced into the rough skin, and hooked itself in. Cronus drove its legs into the back of the Knight, who by now was doing everything it could to rid itself of this annoyance. Cronus' clamp like feet dig into the small of its enemy's back it threw its body back, slamming Cronus into a wall. The scissor slid out of Dogron's flesh, giving the power to move its arm back to it. It switched its battle axe to its left hand. It held out its hand. A Shredder, a Hive Solar crossbow, was born of an infested flame in its hand. It aimed this crossbow back behind its head, resting it on its shoulder, and fired. Cronus released its grip on its feet, and leaned away as a quad spray of four Solar soared into the ceiling above. Rocks began to fall all around them. Cronus glanced up towards the rocks as both it and Dogron were pelted by the boulder barrage. It leapt off, retreating towards the Warp Gate in the back of the cavern.

As this was happening, the rest of the fireteam made their way to behind the rocky outcrop, Stratus poked his head around, he saw Dogron shake off the rain of rocks, keeping its gaze locked onto the Vex monstrosity. He then looked back to Addilyn, not suspecting what he saw.

"Addilyn, behind you!" He shouted out through the comms. She turned around just as the wolf-like monster lunged from the shadows at her. She stuck her hand out, catching the beast by its neck. The creature snapped its jaws wildly at her, trying its best to take a chuck out of her face. Stratus instinctively reached for his sidearm, Dead Man Walking, aiming it up at the creature attacking his teammate. The Nightstalker, however, Placed a hand on the Stormcaller's weapon. It made Stratus think back to minutes ago when he stopped Addilyn from shooting prematurely. It took him a moment to consider, but the Void Hunter was right. If he fired his weapon, it would alert the two enemies fighting each other, and possibly risk the two turning their attention on the six Guardians. He just hoped that she was skilled enough to take care of this, without drawing to much attention towards it. He reholstered his sidearm, and looked back towards the battle occurring amidst the Hive corpses. Addilyn tried to reach for her Hunter knife, but the wolf monster slammed its massive front paw into her forearm, pinning it to the machine wall beneath her. All she had left was her left arm, which was preoccupied keeping the creature away. Her mask's visor was illuminated by the glow from its eyes. Saliva trickled down onto through its bony, razor pointed fangs. She looked for another solution. She glanced down to its hind legs, which were noticeably smaller and weaker then its front arms. She decided that this was her solution. She pulled her left leg up and twisted it around, placing it onto the other side of its left hind leg. She slammed her legs together, creating a lock around the leg. She twisted as hard as she could, until the leg snapped at its knee. The monster cried out, falling flat on top of her. Its paw shifted off of her arm, and she pulled it up. She grabbed hold of its skull with the other hand. The force she held it with kept its teeth locked together. She strained herself, but finally managed to muster enough strength to quickly twist her arms around, snapping the neck of the strange creature. It fell to the ground limply besides her, its menacing crimson glow dissipating from the sockets of its eyes, leaving an empty shell of whatever this creature was. Addilyn laid on her back for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Meanwhile, Stratus' Ghost, Cirrus, appeared besides the dead abyssal beast. The Vanguard could see everything through the Ghost as it started to scan the wolf.

 _"What. Is. That?"_ Ikora, for the first time in a while, was completely dumbfounded. And just like the Warlock's Vanguard, Cirrus could not identify this creature as well, the only thing that it was getting from its scans was an overwhelming sense of malice and dread, it had never felt something so absolute.

Cronus took a moment to fiddle with its right arm, making what appeared like adjustments to its amalgamated appendage. It had looked as though it had forgotten about the presence of the Retainer. Dogron took its Shredder and charged it, aiming for the Vex's head. The Rogue Mind still ignored the Knight. Dogron held its axe still in its left hand, gripping it near the head of the weapon. Cronus looked upon its foe with a strange ironic expression of pity. It laughed to itself, as twisted as ever. Cronus reared it's right arm backwards, smoke began to escape from the exhaust vents. Dogron began to charge forward towards the Vex, firing off its Shredder to damage it anyway it could before it could get in range with its axe. The vents began to spew fire from it, quickly condensing down to a controlled flame. Dogron's Shredder dissipated, expelling into a puff of the infested flame once more. It took hold of its axe with both hand, raising it high above its head. Cronus released its grip on the rock surface, and spontaneously shot forward, its arm carrying the rest of its body as it shot. Dogron threw its axe down, trying to hit the Vex, but it missed by a wide margin with Cronus soaring past it. It twisted its body around, landing horizontally on the rocky outcrop. The Vex once again charged its arm, but this time not at the Knight. It flew upward, at about a forty five degree angle, landing on one of the rocky ledges, wasting no time, it began to spray down a barrage of molten metal from its mini gun barrels. The Hive Knight raised its arm up, trying to prevent the shots from hitting it in the eye. The molten metal collided with its body, it then quickly solidifying on the surface of its bony armor. It took its axe and drew it back, then throwing it with all its might. The weapon somersaulted in the air, gaining some momentum as it traveled. The Vex turned around hopping off the ledge at the last moment. The axe collided with the stone, causing a massive hunk to collapse down. The Vex used its feet to keep itself on the wall, running against it, it aimed its arm downward, constantly spraying the Retainer of the King. Dogron summoned its Wall of Darkness, blocking the incoming fire from the Vex's gun. Cronus continued to run along the wall, trying to get around the Knight's ultimate defense. Dogron kept this shield up and turned its body to keep the molten metal from hitting it. Cronus kept firing, up until it stopped above the Warp Gate. It hung there for a moment, it's arm began to spew fire again, ready to shoot itself forward at the Knight. Dogron decided It was going to take a chance. It lowered its Wall of Darkness, and tried to move behind the Massive rocky outcrop. But it could not move. It looked down to see that it's feet, and they were completely encased in a layer of now solidified brass-like metal. It struggled to release itself, but to no avail. It resummoned it's axe, desperately trying to break loose. It looked up to Cronus, who was itching to attack. Dogron threw up its Wall of Darkness once more, knowing fully well that it could defend from an attack with this shield. Cronus released its hold, and used its arm to instantly fire off like a bullet. Dogron readied for the impact, but it never came. Cronus flew above the Knight, past it and towards the front of the cavern. It stuck its scissor out, clipping the outcrop, it dug into the rock, its momentum carrying it soaring around the stone spire. It cleaved into it, but released once it circled around. It flew forward again at Dogron, this time from its exposed back. The Retainer never saw it coming.

Cronus caught itself in the ground just meters in front of the Knight. It stood still for a moment, recalibrating after the attack. Dogron was motionless as well, it's wall fell, vanishing like the Shredder. The Knight stood motionless for a moment, until gravity caused it to fall to its knees, the movement also made its head fall back, dangling as half of its neck was sliced clean through at the base. Cronus turned back towards the dying Knight, it's eye glimmering with glee at its accomplishment as Radiolaria once again started to drip from its maw.

 **"Thank you for all you've done, Dogron. Your helping me to achieve my goals. Well..."** On Cronus' middle back, what appeared as a decorative inclusion in it, caught the attention of the Guardians, who looked both impressed and terrified. The piece in question appeared similar to a rounded off portion of a cone, from its center, was an extended, needle like structure. It resembled the top portion of a syringe. This part of its body began to shake rapidly, like something beneath it was attempting escape. Unexpectedly, this syringe cone erupted from its back, exposing a long and tendril-like tail. This was similar to that of the Vex Harpies, but was a cluster of these tentacle appendages, all stuck together by its base and the tip of the tail. It illuminated like the Harpies as well, giving off a constant and humming violet shine. This tail curved upwards behind its back in a large arch, much like that of a scorpion's stinger. This tail seemed like it had a mind of its own, fixated on the open wound of Dogron while Cronus slowly hobbled over, crouching down like an ape. Once in range, this tail came down, piercing into the opened wound, it forced its way through the flesh of the Hive, its body displaying some of the tail's glow through the skin. The Knight gasped slightly, but could do little as it dug its way down. **"...part of you is."**

This horrified the Guardians, who all were getting extremely nervous. Addilyn couldn't watch this monstrosity live on anymore, she drew out her sniper rifle, The Long Walk, aiming to severe this tail before it could claim whatever it was searching for in the Hive's body. Without alerting her fireteam, she fired a round. Before she could even tell if she hit it, Cronus' scissor, moved in the path of her round.

 **"I was wondering when you would make your presence known, Guardians."** As Cronus spoke, seemingly something from within Dogron was pulled from its body as a large massive could be seen traveling from the body and up through the entirety of its tail. Once completed, it shot its eye up at Addilyn glaring into her soul. **"Tell me, Gunslinger, did you like my pet. It's well trained, It even knows how to play dead."** She didn't know what it meant as it spoke, but a moment of thought later, she spun around, only to be met by the jaws of the wolf beast she thought she killed. It wrapped its teeth around her neck, and her body fell limp. The other Guardians watched in horror as this creature stood over her body, it's next snapped back into its normal position, its leg fixed itself, and its eyes began iradiate with a crimson light once again, but this time a rather disturbing artificial glow. **"As for the rest of you, don't worry, there is plenty for everyone."** Cronus held its left arm outward, as it did, dozens of pairs of the same glow as this creature's eye sparked to life, filling the ledges to the brim with an ominous blood colored light.


	7. Chapter 7: A New Day's Dawn

***Crawls desperately out of the grave.* I'm alive! What's going on everybody, I'm M12R0R, and after this long wait, I've returned to bring to you Chapter 7 of Brightest in the Dark! Finally, after almost six months of me procrastinating and wasting an entire summer getting myself stuck in platinum in Overwatch, I am back to continue this fantastic series. I am absolutely overwhelmed by the support I've received on this. I never thought that this story would gain such a following like it has and it pains me I've made you all wait so long. But with the upcoming Volume 6 of RWBY and the Forsaken DLC coming in less then three days, I figured this was the time. I have one announcement. I thought this up months ago, and to all you out there with an Xbox One and Destiny 2, and are looking for a clan, I am proud to announce that I have created the Brightest in the Dark clan. Named after this story, you can explore the new DLC with others following this story, and me, the man himself. If you'd like to be a part of things, you can message me and we can go and exact our revenge on that bastard prince together. but without further delay, please enjoy the newest chapter! (Sorry if there are a lot of typos this chapter, I wanted to get this out as quick as possible before I had to leave for work, I will be going over the chapter later and fixing any issues later on.)**

* * *

 _"We didn't just kick the hornets' nest, we've dove head first into it."_ Stratus thought to himself as he watched the hordes of glowing eyes peer down upon him and his fireteam. But he inevitably had his eyes fall back to where the body of his partner Addilyn lay. He could spot her faint outline over the ledge. The monster that had slain her clawed the edge of the ledge, looking down onto the group. Its teeth were stained with Awoken blood.

 **"** **What are you to do now, Guardians, the shadows are entrapping you. We will suffocate what remains of you Light."** An enormous pressure fell upon the team in that moment. The familiar feeling of the Darkness overpowering their Light. In that moment they knew that they needed to be careful as their Ghosts would not be able to resurrect them on their own, and that they'd need to work as a team now more then ever.

"Ready up Guardians, this is about to get rough." Stratus warned his team, his fellow Guardians listening well to his words. Cronus tilted its head, taking its first steps towards the group. Its central eye flashed with a glow of red, and simultaneously the beasts eyes did the same. Then, as if activated by this, the once patiently seated creatures above bellowed forth, dozens leaping and pouring from the darkness from all sides. The Guardians started unloading their weapons of choice at the beasts, energy and kinetic alike. The Guardians thought that their weapons were dealing with them rather efficiently as they were beginning to fall one after another. As the hoards started to thin, the Guardians laxed momentarily.

"Stratus! Get Addilyn, we got the rest!" One of the Strikers called out as one of the wolf beasts lunged forward towards him. Without looking, the Titan took his Crown Splitter and swung the blade upward, impaling the creature through the neck. Stratus looked back at the Nightstalker and nodded towards the upper cliff. The Nightstalker placed a hand on Stratus' shoulder, then reached to his belt, taking hold of his smoke bomb. He tossed it on the ground, the device activated and concealed the Hunter and Warlock, making the two vanish from sight. The last of the creatures descended from the dark. The Strikers and Voidwalker kept the monsters at bay, drawing all attention away from Addilyn's corpse. Stratus and the Nightstalker reappeared, the Void Hunter stood guard, his pulse rifle trained on the shadows, Stratus appeared knelt beside her body.

"Shade? Are you nearby?" Stratus looked around in a panicked demeanor, until a Ghost in a Graylight Shell unveiled itself. It's expression filled with fear and worry

"Stratus, that thing is right, the Darkness is too strong! I- I can't-" Addilyn's Ghost was very childlike, in all aspects, especially in the voice itself.

"Shade, she'll be okay, we've done this before, you just need to focus on my Light." Stratus reassured her Ghost, trying not to add more pressure then was already there. He's known this Ghost for years now, enough to know positivity was the best way for it to preform well, ironic it being Addilyn's Ghost.

"O-ok. I'll do my best." The Ghost's shell expanded outward, focusing its power on igniting its Guardian back to life, Stratus held his hand out, and a barely visible stream of the Warlock's Light was noticeable. It channeled into Addilyn's Ghost, then into her body. Stratus looked up to the Nightstalker, who saw the process working as usual, he hustled over to the side of the machine wall they stood on and gave a thumbs up to the rest of the fireteam.

The Striker with the Crown Splitter saw the signal from his Hunter counterpart. And let out a sigh of relief under his helmet.

"She's alright." He said turning to the other Guardians.

"Yeah..." The Voidwalker spoke happily, he stopped for a moment to strike down the last of the beasts with his Man o' War Fusion Rifle "...so are we." They were surrounded by the corpses of the creatures, all lifeless with their crimson glow of the skull-like masks completely gone. The pressure of the Darkness suddenly lifted, indicating that the worst was over. They looked up towards the Gate, where Vex being still stood, just watching. They'd be lying if the said that it wasn't one of the most disturbing sights they've seen in their many years as Guardians. Through their entire firefight with the creatures, it only stood there, unwilling to join in the carnage.

Shade and Stratus had finally made progress with Addilyn's revival. With one final pulse of Light, her life returned to her body. She jolted upward from the ground, gasping for air. Stratus placed his hand on her shoulder, this startled Addilyn, and she reached for her Hunter knife. She drew it and tried to lunge at where Stratus was, acting solely on instinct. Her arm was stopped short of Stratus' visor. Addilyn's instinctive reactions were fast, but the Nightstalker's were faster.

"Easy there, Hotshot. You never were one who did well with resurrections. Welcome back." Addilyn looked back and forth between Stratus and her fellow Hunter.

"What happened? Where is that...thing?"

"It along with its friends are just about dealt with. No worries. And the Vex is just standing there, probably upset we put its pets down."

"We need to get out of here! Those things will come back!"

"Addilyn what are you saying?" Stratus was unsure of what she meant.

"The Vex knew we were coming. Its a trap!" Addilyn, still weakened, dragged herself in the direction of the ledge, looking down towards the other Guardians as well as the Vex being.

Meanwhile, after what felt like hours of it staring, Cronus spoke once again.

 **"** **Impressive, you easily handled this new threat with minimal effort."**

"What the hell are these things, Vex? Where did they come from?" The other Striker called over, it being the first time they or anyone they knew of communed in a real conversation with a Vex. Cronus turned its body to the side, waving its human-like left hand at the Gateway behind him.

 **"** **From what you've so ignorantly nicknamed "Tartarus". On the other side of that Gateway, there is a Darkness like you've never seen. Its where I've dragged your fellow Guardians, and where they have all met their demise."** The Crown Splitter Striker angrily tightened his grip on his blade.

Electricity surging slightly from his palms.

"Why are you telling us that?" The Void Warlock was now growing timid.

 **"** **Because its a preview...of how your story will end."** Cronus' eye intensified with glee. A silence fell between them. Until the crackle of lightning began to emit from the front Striker, furious with the Vex's arrogance.

"Shut up! If you claim to be so powerful!..." The Striker threw his arms down, slamming his fists into the ground, this caused seemingly a lightning strike to surge from his body. His Arc Light trailing from him, becoming a miniature thunderstorm. "...then show me what you've got!" The Titan took off, charging after Cronus, blinded by his rage and leaving the other two behind.

"Dammit Barak! You'll get yourself killed again!" Barak leapt up into the air as he came close towards the Vex. He reared his fists back over his head, preparing to strike the ground beneath him and incinerate Cronus. It refused to move. Just before he struck, however, the being sprang into its action, it dove beneath the Titan, and shot its hand outward, it caught the Striker by the throat. It turned to the cavern wall by the Gateway and effortlessly tossed the raging Guardian into the stone.

"Dammit!" The other Striker yelled.

"Lets back him up!" The Voidwalker smacked the Titan on the shoulder and they began to sprint towards Cronus. The Vex looked back at them without much of a care.

 **"** **Excuse us. We have some things to discuss."** It spoke as its eye once again grew in luminosity. As it did, around the floor, walls, and ceiling of cavern, Vex shield generators formed into reality. They began to project a massive and impassable transparent energy barrier, similarly to Brakion's in the Pyramidion that was located less then a mile away. The other Striker ran up towards the barrier and sent his fist into it. The barrier reversed the shock of his attack and sent the Guardian staggering backwards. They stopped in their tracks, scanning around the corners for an opening, another noise started up behind them, a faint, mechanical one. They turned, and watched as yet another energy barrier box them off, stuck in the room with dozens of the monsters' bodies.

Stratus and the two Hunters watched helplessly as their fireteam was sectioned off.

 _"_ _Well, it couldn't get much worse, right?"_ Cayde spoke over the comms of the Vanguard that Cirrus was still broadcasting.

Barak, the Striker Titan, fell from the wall that he cratered, small bits of rock and pebbles dropping along with him, his Arc lightning jolting and striking against these rocky pieces. He looked as if he was already defeated, his body limp as he dropped. Right before he smacked into the floor, his feet caught himself, landing into a crouched position. He panted for a moment. But shot a glare up through his visor at Cronus, who was casually walking forward towards him.

 **"** **You're an overzealous Titan aren't you, running into battle without any regard for your team."** Cronus began to taunt the already emotionally charged Guardian.

"Shut up!" Barak ran forward again at Cronus. This time, rather then striking the ground with his fists, he funneled his energy into his knee, trying to ram the Vex. Cronus leaned to the side at the last second, avoiding the collision. It swung its massive right forearm forward into the back of the midair Guardian.

 **"** **You are all so predictable. And I'm not just talking about Titans. I knew you would send a team to try to rescue your lost comrades. It solidified something for me. Do you want to hear it?"** Cronus walked up behind the Titan, who was on his hands and knees. Barak rose up, delivering a charged Arc punch into the abdomen of Cronus. The Arc energy being immediately absorbed its body. The Arc Light that covered was cascading from him faded away. He looked up at Cronus, horrified. Cronus knelt down, leaning in just inches away from his visor.

 **"** **Your all doomed, you are so quick to jump on the opportunity to snuff out change, that you blind yourselves at the fact that change is something inevitable, nothing lasts forever, including you immortal beings. As for myself, I'm only here to help that change along."** Cronus rose up, walking around to the front of the Guardian. **"Is this what my true plans are? Is this what I truly want? Unfortunately for you, you won't live long enough to see. What you will see is what happens when you try to play hero."** Cronus paced back around the Titan, grabbing his helmet and forcing him to face the other Striker and the Voidwalker. Cronus looked on as well and his eye started to intensify yet again.

The trapped two watched helplessly as Cronus completely bested their teammate. They were frustrated, which soon turned to confusion as Cronus forced him to face them and the Vex's gaze became locked upon them. They were oblivious when some of the bodies of the creatures around them began to twitch, their limbs beginning to show the slightest of movements, and the glow of their eyes indicating a rebirth. When the eyes on their bodies became fully illuminated, something triggered within them, a burning aura enveloped their bodies, one by one, these things were encased in the fiery glow.

"Oh great." The Striker pulled his massive auto rifle, Sweet Business, up to his hip, and sprayed a flurry of bullets at these creatures, but it was no use. The aura cloaking them was disintegrating the rounds before they could even reach them.

"What the hell are these things?" Stratus asked with a cracking throat as they as well watched helplessly from their cliff face.

"That energy, it reminds me of..." Addilyn's voice was breaking as well.

"Hobgoblins..." The two looked over to the Nightstalker as he spoke, surprisingly composed. "Those things are Vex."

As the creatures rose up, their burning aura dispersed, revealing the truth to the other Guardians, their all black fur was charred off, revealing the bronze-like exoskeleton of the familiar Vex. Their bony skulls melted away like plastic, as they did metallic fans jutted out and extended from their newly revealed mechanical head. Whip-like tails akin to those of the Hobgoblins whipped around wildly. These beasts' midsections were very slender but quickly bulked up as it reached their torsos. Their front arms were thick, rivaling the size of the much larger Minotaurs. Its claws were unlike other Vex, having more opposable digits then most, but their back legs were similar to those of Minotaurs, with longer claws that effortlessly dug into the stone. Their heads were much like their original appearance, large gaping maws with rows of large dagger-like metal canines. And sticking with the Vex's theme, a large central optical lense like Cronus', however with additional red receptors fading to the back of the skull.

"Shit!" The Striker shouted as he looked around at the Vex hounds. Their Ghosts previously could offer little information on them, but now that they shed their abyssal black coating, they could afford to make a proper tag.

* * *

 **Chimera**

* * *

The monsters were also displayed with a yellow bar, rather than the red one just seconds before, signifying that these were not walk in the park adversaries, and they were surrounded by dozens of these.

"Shit! There is no way out!" The Striker called out as he fired his Sweet Business into one of the Chimeras, his auto rifle making no significant dent in the thing's health.

"There is though..." the Warlock sighed as he removed his helmet and threw it to the ground beside him, his green Exo eyes looking sympathetically up to the cliff at the other three. "...just not for us." The Striker looked up as well and understood, he glanced down towards his fellow Titan, he ripped off his own helmet. He smirked at him, then looked back to the Voidwalker.

"Whenever you're ready." The Warlock nodded and drew his hands back, white light filled them and he thrusted his palms downward, a rift of swirling Light empowered their beings. The Striker chucked his helmet forward at one of the Chimeras, It dinked weakly off one of their heads, it roared forward at them, and the other Chimeras powered forward, lunging on top of the two Guardians. Pretty soon, they were completely engulfed in the swarm.

"NOOO!" Barak, the last remaining Striker bellowed in agony. Cronus looked down to him, then back handed the Titan to the ground behind him. It stood over him, and looked at its Scissor, and plummeted the blade into the Striker's chest. It watched as red started to waterfall down off his armor, and he waited, serenaded by the pain he was delivering on this helpless Guardian. Suddenly, several feet above him, the familiar noise of a Ghost uncloaking itself made Cronus' tail shoot out instantaneously, without even looking, the needle-like head of his tail pierced through the Ghost's core, shish kabobing the little Light. The Ghost's energy could not even expel outward, Cronus' tail was just to precise, it killed it viscously, but left the Light stored within it unruptured.

 **"** **That's too bad."** It brought its tail forward and waved it smugly in front of Barak's face, his Ghost still struggle to get to its Guardian. Barak tried to say something, but ultimately could only produce the sound of him gargling his own blood. Cronus reared back its left arm, as it got back to an appropriate distance, Cronus' left side began to crackle with an Arc energy, it channeled up into its fist. **"Ironic, is it not."** Barak's eyes widened as he tried to reach his hand up and stop Cronus, but it was no use. Satisfied with the torture he has delivered, the Vex plummeted a deadly punch into the visor of Barak, shattering and not stopping the fist from traveling straight through into the ground. The Arc Light surged and then instantly vaporized his armor and his body, leaving nothing but faint burn residue and some bloody smudges on the rocky surface.

As he felt his life slipping away, the Exo Warlock decided that it was time, as the Chimeras continued to tear apart his body and maul that of his Titan counterpart, what remained of him started to emit Void Light, he channeled it into what remained of his nearly severed arm.

"Keep moving, Guardians" He spoke softly with what remained of his life, his eyes dimming and flickering. At the last possible moment, he waved his hand slightly forward, enough to release a massive Nova Bomb, one that annihilated not only the two Guardians, but the majority of the Chimeras with it. Cronus chuckled slightly to itself, admiring the effort.

The three watched in horror at all the sights before them. Stratus threw his fist into the energy barrier, only to have it recoil against him. Addilyn stayed knelt, speechless. The Nightstalker turned away, refusing to look as his fellow Guardians fell one after another in such horrific fashions. Even the Vanguard comms were silent. The energy barriers deactivated. Cronus' Arc Light fade from its body. Its tail snaked around to its front, Barak's Ghost still skewered. The Vex plucked its body from it, it looked to its right arm. The hatch on Cronus' Scissor opened, and it tossed the shell into the canister, the lid closed, and the barrels on the weapon began to rotate, melting the Ghost. Cronus trudged over to where the Nova Bomb was casted. Its explosion devastated the area into a small crater, some pieces of the Chimeras were scattered about. Some of those that piled furthest out were fully intact. As Cronus past the complete ones, some of them regained life. They rose from gravel and dirt, shaking off whatever landed from the blast. They drug themselves to the sides of the Vex. Cronus rolled its shoulders back and forth, as if it was stretching, like if he hadn't even began to try.

It seemed to have completely forgotten about the three remaining survivors. They stood frozen, fear coursing throughout themselves, completely mortified from the carnage and overall helplessness. The Guardians knew that they stood no chance, they needed to escape, but the couldn't move. Each one thought if they moved then Cronus would catch them, and most certainly grant them each their final death.

 **"** **Haven't you finally seen the futility in their efforts."** Their terror induced trance was broken when the Vex began to speak once again. Their eyes shot down at the Vex, but strangely, he wasn't fixated on them as he spoke, as he had been when conversing with anyone previously. **"Do you still think humanity has a chance at this rate, Guardians are dying, their City will crumble, and the Darkness with swallow their Traveler in its entirety, yet you still cling to this hope. It would be better if you just gave up..."** Cronus was pacing back and forth, his Chimeras fixated on him as he did.

 _"_ _Guardians...you need evacuate now_." There was a desperateness in Commander Zavala's voice, riddled with regret and defeat. Cirrus rushed to Stratus' side and vanished, as did Shade to Addilyn. The Nightstalker and the other two exchanged glances, then they all looked to the cavern's entrance, the large rocky split in the wall. Without any more hesitation, the three Guardians ran and leapt from the machine wall. Cronus was pacing the other way, but they were still sure that it was aware of their movements. The descended, but right before they struck the ground their light boosted them into the air a little longer, making the force minimum. They kept their stride, sprinting to the exit. They thought their was hope, but when they came within reach, it was snapped from them. Conflux energy surged in the exit, and yet another machine wall manifested itself, covering the way out and completely trapping the Guardians.

 **"** **No way out."** Cronus' voice echoed. They turned back towards where the Vex was, but the rocky outcrop blocked their sight, its outline illuminated with the soft blue glow of the Vex Warp Gate.

But this shifted quickly, the rock becoming covered in a raging and viscous orange, shadows cast by the approaching Chimera danced in distortion. They stretched forward, as if they themselves were straining to grab the Guardians. Jolting shockwaves resonated immediately as thunderous booms collided against the opposite side of the outcrop. The stone starting to crack, the orange breaking through and shimmering on the machine wall.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Addilyn desperately asked, feeling as though there would be no response. Another boom echoed throughout.

"I haven't the slightest..." Stratus' helmet lowered. He felt like he failed everyone, that he's the reason they'll all die here. The rock fractured further. The partners were frantically searching their brains.

"Eyes up, Guardians..." Yet another glow entered their vision, it was bright, extremely close, and of a violet color. Stratus and Addilyn's eyes shift to in between them. "...we aren't dying that easily. As long as I draw breathe, Darkness will never conquer Light!" The Nightstalker conjured his bow, one that manifested the Light of the Void. He drew the Shadowshot back, aimed at the center of the outcrop.

"Ha...Hamutal..." Addilyn turned rather surprised at her fellow Hunter. The Nightstalker, Hamutal, shot glances to both Stratus and her.

"The only way out of this is through THAT gateway. We need to hit these this hard if we are going to delay them long enough to get there. We have one chance at this. I would rather not be these things' new chew toy. We strike...TOGETHER."

His words were like a rallying cry. As he spoke, his fellow Guardian's bodies started to exert a pressure, one similar to the one he currently was. The rocky outcrop experienced several more blasts that shook it dramatically, the fractures soon connecting in the center. The totality of stone began to crumble, and one last explosion forced the remnants of IO's crust to be sent flying in all directions. The dust that followed was thick nothing physically able to be seen, all except for the faint glow of the portal and the penetrative gaze of the Vex.

 **"** **I knew I had missed some of you. Between that girl and you three I've lost my hand at genocide. Allow me to right that wrong, will you?"** Cronus broke through the cloud with leisure. It swiped its scissor to the side, the exhaust valves on the arm flared up in flames, and the other arm still crackled with some resonating Arc lightning.

"I'd like to see you try it, you damned machine!" In that defining moment, Hamutal lowered his bow and burst himself forward. The light of this Void bow dissipated, he threw his arms back, and in his grasps formed two Spectral Blades, followed by a great pulse of violet energy. The Nightstalker vanished once more, without the aid of his smoke bomb. This unexpected shift caused Cronus to react rather oddly, it seemed surprised. It's optical lense, along with those of its Chimeras, amplified in luminosity, as they began to pan the floor around them.

 **"** **You think that your tricks wil-!"** Cronus' words ceased projection as a Solar round collided in a fiery explosion along the side of its head's fin. Its head jolted back, disjointing from the whiplash. Addilyn wasn't going to allow this Vex and its abominations to snuff the Light from anymore Guardians on this day, while Cronus was distracted searching for Hamutal, she slung out her Golden Gun, popping the Vex quickly, giving it no possible chance to react. Her actually seeing this monster take some form of damage was an unexpected joy, but this moment of hesitation in the face of slight success would not last. She shook herself loose of this thought, her eyes refocusing, her Light burning brighter, and she once again let loose on the Vex. However, unlike her first shot, Cronus was prepared. Its left hand shot forward, its palm extended, not in any form of attack, but rather purely in defense. As the rounds of the Sun's radiation left their solar revolver and struck their target in a fraction of the second, they were intercepted by the human-like palm. Unlike when it struck its head, the Light was instantly absorbed into its hand, and any kinetic energy was immediately dispersed. Addilyn's brightened oranges eyes flickered and her Light dispersed. Cronus' head snapped back forward, a clear hole punched effortlessly through its head fin. Its optical lense flickered, as the attack also skimmed the edge of its cannister, causing some of the internal mechanisms to get destroyed. Though emotion was something that was lacking from Cronus' face, rage was something that was present and then some within its gaze. **"Your going to suffer for that!"**

Arc was replaced with Solar, and Cronus twisted its hand around like it was gripping something, and a Golden Gun started to manifest. Not wanting it to have a chance to fire, Stratus unleashed his own power, his Arc light surged as Cronus' did, but even more raw potency. He slowly levitated from the floor, and cast his hands forth. His Arc Light traveled forth, conducting into the Vex bodies' like lightning rods. Cronus took the brunt of it all, and the Light continued into his Chimeras, making the electricity fill their beings, making these abhorred creatures cry out in a disturbing mixture of bestial roars and mechanical screeches. Cronus struggled to point its weapon forward. Its internal systems were scrambling unable to directly process anything. As best as it could, it tried to shift its aim at the Stormcaller. The Chimeras trudged forward taking heavy steps as they tried to reach him.

"Any time now, Hamutal!" Stratus could feel his strength waning. From behind the Vex and its dogs, the Nightstalker's cloak faded. Spectral Blades still in hand, he threw his Void daggers into the back two Chimeras, partial causing their bodies to disintegrate into the unknown of the Void. Feeling its expansions under attack, Cronus shifted around, and unlike its usual calculated strikes, it fired its Golden Gun at random, the first round struck the wall to the left of the Vex Gate, the second hit one of the injured Chimera's completely incinerating it. This appeared to cause pain to Cronus, as it clenched its body immediately. Its eye intensified as it straightened its arm, pointing directly at Hamutal's head. Hamutal composed himself, straightening his arm and manifesting his Void bow once more. He saw the Vex's aim, as did Stratus, who with all of his remaining energy, pushing himself beyond his limits, his lightning grew in strength, and slowly concentrated. He gripped his right bicep with his left hand, and channeled his remaining Arc Light into a tremendous beam, one that ripped straight through the core of Cronus, overloading it. This did not deter the Vex from taking its final shot, but that made it all the more predictable. When Cronus finally fired, Hamutal release his violet arrow, the bolt traveled forward, on a direct collision course with the Solar round, but as all Guardians know, a Nightstalker's arrow was a unique tool used by the Void Hunter. The two projectiles collided, and Hamutal's bolt tore through the Solar Light, rendering it useless, as if it fell into a blackhole. It traveled forward, and before Cronus could react, the arrow struck the Vex in the right shoulder. The arrow collapsed in on itself, imploding then expanding out, a hazy Void aura manifested around Cronus, and from the initial impact a series of tethers sprouted out, hooking and anchoring Cronus and its Chimeras into place.

"Addilyn! Stratus! Finish it!" Hearing his words, Addilyn took no chances, her Ghost, Shade, materialized the weapon that they designated as simply "Last Resort", also known as the Tesla Coil. As Stratus continued to release all of the Arc he could, Addilyn took aim and pulled the trigger, launching a volley of rockets into Cronus' pack, though they were flying all over the place, wherever they struck because of the tethers, the damage was shared between them all. The floor of the cavern erupted once more in a puff of dust from the impacts, and the glow of Void faded. Deciding to take this opportunity to get the hell out of there, the three Guardians made a mad dash towards the Warp Gate, as they approached, they could feel the energy surging from it, a pressure that no other Vex Gate has ever emitted.

"All we have to do is jump through, right?!" Stratus yelled over as he continued to hustle.

"If its like any of the other Gates then yes! And whatever is on the other side of that thing, we can take care of! Right, Hamutal?!" Addilyn's words gained no response. She and Stratus both came to screeching halt. The two spun around, only to see Hamutal frozen in place, with a horrifyingly familiar glow forming around him. "Hamutal…no…" Their fear was soon confirmed when they saw what appeared to be a tether trailing off his back and leading back towards the falling dust, but they did not have to see to realize what was the cause.

"You two…d-AGH-don't worry about m-me. Get through that p-portal…" The Nightstalker strained to form words. He tried to move, but the weight of this unfamiliar Void made anything other then a crawl impossible.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?! We can't do this without you!" Addilyn rushed forward towards him, see tried to reach out to him, but Stratus causght her arm before she could touch. She shot a gaze back, glaring through her visor at Stratus, appalled that he would even consider stopping her from helping him.

"Does it really look like I'm getting out of this?' Hamutal pushed himself, but only managed to extend his hand out.

"We aren't leavi-." Addilyn remained defiant of this reality. Stratus stayed silent, knowing the inevitable, the same way that Hamutal did.

"Addilyn, I taught you everything you know, you are more then capable to handle this on your own. Protect your teammate…" Addilyn reached out to his hand, holding her palm open underneath his. A small sphere of Void Light formed in his hand. The ball fell from his, and landed softly into hers. When it made contact, the Light grew in brightness, and when she closed her fist on it, the Void Light shot up into her body, becoming one with the Light in her body. Her eyes, which normally shined like the Sun's Solar radiation, was replaced with a cosmic glow from the darkness of space. That same glow, which once shimmered in the eyes of Hamutal, were now blanked. "At least that bastard won't take my Light. Now go." Addilyn hesitated, but with some slight pull from Stratus, she relented. They made her way to the portal, but she never took her eyes off her former mentor. Even as Cronus trudged out of the crater the Tesla Coil caused, she refused. The Vex had some damage present across its body, but it just seemed more irritated. As it approached the Lightless Guardian, the Void tether began to retract into its palm. Stratus and Addilyn were now steps from taking the dive, but Addilyn still refused to take her eyes off Hamutal. Status grabbed her shoulder and shook her a bit, making her refocus on him.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go." He had the utmost sincerity in his voice, with an odd mixture of terror sprinkled in. She took one more glance, then she was pulled into the Vex Warp Gate along with her partner. The portal flashed, filling the room momentarily with its light. Hamutal stood, still tethered to Cronus, and a smile grew on his face beneath his helmet. He removed his Hunter mask, and let it drop beside him. The aging Awoken glanced backwards at the Vex as it lumbered towards him.

"You know they'll beat you…" Cronus didn't answer, his only response was the clanging of metal growing louder. "…no matter how many probabilities your mind tries to comprehend and simulate, no matter what odds you THINK you have. They'll beat you. The Light will beat you. Just like it did with all those before you. And all those to follow you. What makes you special?" Rather then a swift and merciless jab through his chest, like the Hunter expected, he was met with a hand being placed gently on his shoulder. Hamutal turned and looked behind him, he was met with a glowing Vex lense, but he had no fear, so he stared into its face defiantly, studying the details of this being. Something peculiar caught his gaze, he squinted, looking into the blackness beneath the Vex machinery. There was something there, something he couldn't quite make out. But then he recognized a tonal shift, and his eyes widen, he tried to back away, but Cronus had him locked into place. He struggled, beginning to panic, screaming as he did. "No! Let me go! What did you do?! In the name of the Traveler, what are you?!" Seeing he figured it out, the Vex let out a low guttural chuckle.

 **"** **Retribution…"** In a flash, Cronus' tail jutted from its backside and flew overhead like a scorpion's. Hamutal's legs, which were kicking defiantly in death's face, now dangled without the slightest spark of life. The body was tossed to the ground. Cronus' tail slowly retracted back into its body, as it did, it stared at the portal. **"… a retribution they all will never forget."**

* * *

The day finally arrived, the day that the new semester at Beacon began, Yang and Thorne couldn't be more excited for Ruby, herself on the other hand, not so much. She wanted to go to the school more than anything, but the upstarting Huntress was worried for how she'd be perceived. While yes, she was jumping ahead two years for the reasons Professor Ozpin explained as her skill and bravery. She was worried about how others would see her actions, would they see her as Ozpin had, or would they see her as nothing more than a girl who got lucky?

These were several thoughts passing through her head as she and Yang boarded the airship to Beacon Academy. Thorne kept himself cloaked as they boarded, but stayed close to the sisters' sides. Normally, he'd be fine with large crowds, being able coast in the sky above with little effort, but in this airship's crowded spaces and low hanging ceiling, it was proving to be a challenge. So, Thorne stayed between them, knowing that this was the best guaranteed safe zone that he could float freely. He swore he wasn't going into Ruby's backpack again.

With Ruby wrapped up in her thoughts and Thorne focusing on staying unnoticed, the two were staying unusually quiet, this left Yang to deal with her excitement on her own, and she couldn't take it anymore. They walked forward through the main passenger area of the ship, about midway through, Yang stopped in her tracks. Ruby glanced back to notice her sister, stopping as well to see what was the matter. In that moment, Yang lunged forward, catching the little red hood wearing girl totally off guard in an overwhelming bear hug. Thorne managed to squeeze out from between them. Ruby's shocked, embarrassed, and somewhat fearful face said it all. Yang tightened her grip, relieving Ruby of any breaths she had left in her lungs.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"

"Please stop." Ruby strained to release any sort of vocalization.

"People are looking at you two." Thorne's voice echoed through both their heads. Ruby noticed the passing faces of people as they glanced over at her, and her face only reddened from even more embarrassment. Ruby struggled to be released, but soon was let go by Yang's own accord. She backed away, standing proudly with her hands on her hips, looking over her sister.

"Its just that I'm so proud of her!" While Yang stood tall and proud, Ruby was opposite. Her shoulders slumped and her body shrank, like she was trying her best to stay unnoticed.

"Really, you guys, it was nothing." Yang tilted her head, raising an eyebrow to her.

"Yeah "nothing", you just went toe to toe with a time travelling, murderous, Light-stealing robot. Really nothing."

"It was incredible is what it was." Yang refocused on Ruby. "Everyone is going to think your the bee's knees." Ruby groaned slightly at Yang's words.

"I don't want to be the "bee's knees", okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees. I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees." Ruby pleaded to her sister. Yang looked around, puzzled by her tone.

"What's with her? Why isn't she excited." Yang directed her questions to Thorne, who she felt would have a better understanding of Ruby's strange attitude.

"Well she is excited, to be fair, she's just worried about people judging her for being a natural born prodigy."

"I just don't want people to think I'm special." Ruby shrunk in on herself, refusing to make eye contact. Yang took a few steps forward and wrapped an arm around her sister.

"But you are special." As she reassured her sister, the two amongst their own silence managed to listen in on something interesting, the two looked up to see a holographic projector that had the VNN news channel broadcasting. Once again, a disturbing image marked that they were talking about Cronus.

"It has been at least two months since the last incident, and already the Vale PD is easing up as they revealed to us. The once unstoppable force that hunted down our kingdom's finest has official vanished of the face of Remnant. Authorities confirmed t-." As the broadcast started to explain all the details, it cut out, being replaced with a holographic projection of Glynda Goodwitch, the Huntress that saved Ruby's life. Thorne, upon seeing the broadcast followed by her, made images flash into his vision

 ** _"_** ** _ITS YOU."_** The Vex's strange words from that night still echoed in his core.

 _"_ _What did it mean by that? How did it recognize me? I can't even recognize its name, Cronus. It's a Vex, but something about it just seems…off. It operates like no other being I've ever seen before. Its actions are too deliberately forceful. Its almost as if it has a grudge."_ Thorne tried to run the options, trying to process it as best he could. But in this moment of deep concentration, the Ghost unknowingly decloaked, appearing out in the open. Ruby and Yang's eyes widen in surprise, and acting solely on instinct, Ruby snatched him from the air. Luckily for them, most of the students to be were being mesmerized by the sight of the ever-fading city of Vale, including Ruby's old school, Signal academy. She too saw the marvel of the view.

"Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here!" She rushed over towards the window, seeing the busy streets below. She held onto Thorne, who now snapped out of his trance, and shifted his eye to be able to see what she saw. A child like sense of awe over came her, but as it deep, the worries that still plagued her mind came back to her. "I guess home isn't too far away after all."

"Beacon's our home now." Yang came to stand by the side of her sister, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, and we'll be fine, as long as we stick together."

* * *

 **(5 minutes later…)**

* * *

"Well... actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, see ya, bye!" Not even two mintues of the airship and Yang, along with her so called "friends", the likes of whom Ruby and Thorne could not recognize, took off in a mad bustling dash towards the school, leaving her little sister and Ghost in the dust. Ruby, spun around in confusion with her questions pouring from her mouth like a river. Thorne just hovered there, shaking his shell back and forth in disappointment.

"So much for sticking together." A crash from behind made Thorne turn a glance backwards, only to see Ruby on her back, white briefcases surrounding her, engraved on the sides of these was an emblem resembling that of a snowflake. Several rapid heel clicks made the Ghost turn again, only to see another girl standing over Ruby, with irritating clearly furrowing her brow.

"What are you doing?!" This clearly delightful girl shouted down at Ruby, not even apologizing for having her cart of suitcases parked right behind her.

"Uh, sorry!" Ruby sat upon, and being the sweet girl she was, apologized instead for actions, but that clearly was not enough for this one, who after examining carefully and with the emblem on the luggage, Thorne pieced it together who this girl might be. In the meantime, this new girl continued to

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?"

"Uhhh…" Ruby appeared confused, possibly gaining a head injury from the impact. She fumbled with one of the briefcases as she tried to return it, but the ever-increasing agitation of this girl grew only further.

"Give me that!" She snatched the case from Ruby's hand. She popped it open, to revel a plethora of different dust types, all of which were held in a velvet lined causing, each vial stamped with the same logo as the cases. "This is Dust, mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!" The sight of this pampered princess solidified something for Thorne, he has had enough of her attitude. As the girl picked up a vial, and Ruby once again responded with an uncertain groan. "What are you, brain-dead?" Thorne flew down to the side of her head.

"Guess all of that money can't buy you some manners." Thorne spoke confidently and clearly. The girl's eyes widened as she spun around, looking for the owner of this voice.

"Who said that!" Ruby's eyes were wide too, she could not believe that Thorne would willingly speak out in public so loudly. She even started to giggle, seeing that this girl was freaking out more and more as she saw nobody around who could match a voice like that, there just a girl who was reading a book on the other side of the courtyard. The girl could not hear the source, but she honed her attention in on a different sound. "What's so funny?" She snapped back like a ferocious beast, her eyes sharpening back onto Ruby. This quickly made Ruby shrink into silence. "What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

Thorne could see that his comments only made it worse, but this only made the Ghost more agitated. He hovered lower, just beneath her hand that the Dust vial was being held.

"Well, I-I..." Ruby tried to speak, but this girl was ready to cut her off once again, Thorne decided he was tired of her rudeness. He rocketed upward, striking the edge of the vial, knocking it up into the air. The sudden surprise made the rich girl drop the case in its entirety, one of the vials popped open, sending a cloud of fire Dust into the air, and into Ruby's nose, causing her to react. In a single sneeze, the force from it caused the Dust to react mildly, sending spurts of flame and lightning in all directions. Soot fell onto both of their outfits, being much of an issue for the rich girl, who's primarily white clothing and asymmetrical ponytail looked worse for wear. Infuriation was putting the girl's emotion lightly.

"Look what you did! You're a complete dolt! This isn't a school for clumsy and stupid kids! We are training to fight monsters! So maybe, instead of staring at you imaginary friend, learn to watch where you're going!"

"Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!"

"Hey, she said she was sorry, princess!" Thorne and Ruby's layered perfectly over top each other you could barely tell they were separate, aside from the slight difference in word choice of the two. This confused the other girl, but she quickly shifted attention to another voice inserting itself in the conversation.

"Its heiress, actually." The girl they had previous saw reading a book was approaching, in her hand the vial that Thorne launched into the air. Opposing this heiress, this other girl had long, freeflowing black hair that had a similarly colored bow on the top of her head. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world…" Thorne beneath his cloaked state rolled his lense, he felt as though he'd have to speak crudely in her ears too now.

"Finally! Some recognition!" Weiss smirked in smug triumphance at Ruby.

"…The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Thorne's opinion quickly shifted. He laughed to himself faintly above the three. Ruby also started to again. Getting very flustered, Weiss was apparently lost for words, unable to come up with any true comeback.

"Wha- How dare- The nerve of... Ugh!" Weiss stampered forward to the girl with the bow, who's golden eyes were trained on her every move, as she got up in her face and swiped her vial back. The heiress then turned, stomping off towards the school, followed by some well-dressed gentlemen, frantically trying to pick up the luggage and place it back on the cart, assumed to be under her employment. Thorne flew around to Ruby's shoulder, who was waving off to Weiss.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" She called out to Weiss as rushed off, refusing to look back. She sighed. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day... So, wh-" Ruby continued to speak, but was cut off at the last moment by her invisible best friend.

 _"Uhh…Ruby…she's gone."_ Ruby turned to see the black-haired girl walking off, going back to her book, this left Ruby and Thorne alone in the courtyard. Ruby turned again to the direction that Thorne was hovering, "Soo…first impressions?" Thorne tried his best at humor. Ruby, instead of laughing, collapsed in defeat on the tile below. _"I'm going to take that as a 6/10."_

"Just welcome to Beacon, soooo excited now." Ruby rolled her eyes as she laid defeated on the ground.

"Well, it can't get much worse then this." Thorne said without acknowledging the footsteps closing in behind him.

"Hi…I'm Jaune." A scraggily blonde boy stood over Ruby, a smile on his face and a hand extended to her. Thorne's lense expanded in horror.

 _"Never mind, it got worse! Boy alert!"_

* * *

As the day went on, Thorne and Ruby got to know more of how starting at this big new school was going to be. Ruby made acquittance with the boy known as Jaune, all be it to Thorne's disapproval. Not saying that she could not take care of herself, but Thorne, over the years and especially since the Vex incident, has developed an over protective streak. He watched him like a hawk as the day went on, and also the Schnee heiress, Weiss, who Ruby had yet another incident with in the auditorium. But throughout the day, Thorne could tell that she was gradually reverting back into social awkwardness, and as she and all of the other students settled into their sleeping bags in one massive slumber party, she hit her lowest point.

Alone amongst the sea of hormonally charged teenagers, Ruby sat alone, notepad open and beginning to write a letter back to her friends at Signal Academy. Thorne hovered just next to her head, watching every word that she wrote.

"You know that we can go and visit them anytime that you want to, or just call them on your Scroll? Wait, and who still writes letters nowadays?" Ruby didn't respond to Thorne, and not just because she was focused on her writing. Thorne sighed, his attempts lighten her mood failed. He sighed, his lense dimmed as if he closed his eyes for a moment. He hovered to just above her notepad, and without warning, uncloaked himself. He managed to snap Ruby out of her current state, by making her erupt in a panic. She squeaked, as she almost jumped into the air as she tried to conceal him. Her one option; her Corgi pillow. She threw the plushie down overtop her Ghost, hiding him from all of the other students, a few of whom turned and were staring at her, as she had been making a bit of a scene. She smiled nervously around at the people staring, who all began to lose interest. Her eyes shot back onto Thorne, who was looking up at her from beneath the pillow.

"You can't just uncloak like that, Thorne, you have to warn me." She double checked to see if people were still watching.

"You're right and I'm sorry, but I need you to be able to see me for this. Ever since we've board that airship this morning, something has been off with you. I thought coming to this school was what you wanted more than anything."

"It is." Ruby refused to look him in the lense.

"Then why are you here acting like you don't belong." He looked at her with curiosity.

"Thorne, you know why." Still not looking.

"I do, but I don't understand. As far back as our time together can take me, you wanted this. Who cares what others are going to think about you, you did something no one here even wants to think about doing. If anything, they should worry about what you think of them."

"Th-." Thorne cut her off before she could continue.

"You don't need to say anything, please, just think about it, and finish your letter to your friends, I'm sure they'll LOVE to hear about that Weiss girl." Ruby furrowed her brow at him, but she knew it was all in fun.

"Okay, what are you going to do?"

"We're in school, I'm am going to learn" He seemed mischievous.

"Are you going to hack into anything?" She rolled her eyes, knowing full well he was.

"You know me so well."

"Please don't destroy the computer systems like at Signal"

"No promises." With that, Thorne reentered his cloaked state, he flew out from under the pillow, causing it to drop completely to the ground. Floated to well above the reach of any of the students and off towards the spiral staircase that Ruby was faced away from, on the way passing above Yang. He turned and watched as she made her was back over to Ruby, who got right back to work on her letter. Thorne scanned the room, looking over each of their faces and committing them to memory. Eventually, he caught sight of the girl from the courtyard, who still was burying herself in her book. Thorne was just about to turn and fly out, but out of the corner of his lense he noticed what he thought was that girl glancing at him from the corner of her eye, as if she had known he was there. He shook this off as his sensors playing tricks on him, and he finally flew away. He soared out of the main hall's staircase. He flew out the same way that the students had entered. He pressed his shell against the great wooden door, managing to push it just enough for him to get out. Thorne looked around at the night sky, it was incredibly clear, not a cloud in sight, leaving the moon to completely enveloping the architecture in its soft light. Thorne thought it was an impressive piece of work, like how he always admired the Last City, but deep down, nothing could compare to that special place in his core. Before arriving at Beacon, Thorne did as much as he could when it came to researching where everything was, acting as the map for Ruby and Yang, but apparently, he efforts were unneeded to them. However, now, it was coming in handy. Thorne's desire to hack into Beacon's systems wasn't born out of just a whim, but out of a feeling that was born the first moments that he and Ruby had met the Headmaster. It could not place it, but he did not trust Ozpin wholeheartedly. Therefore, for the girls' sake and safety, Thorne needed to know if there were any skeletons in his closet. Thorne made his way into the base of the central spire, the one that was topped with the Headmaster's office. He flew unnoticed, making his way to the elevator.

"Well, lets see if I still got this." He prepared himself to fire a beam of Light into the control panel, in order to bring the elevator down to him. But just as he was, he heard a ring from inside the shaft. The doors opened, and inside the car, two people stood, and they were none other then Professors Ozpin and Glynda. Thorne could not be happy.

"So, preparations for the initiations tomorrow are all in order?" Ozpin asked as he walked out of the elevator, coffee mug still in hand. Glynda kept up pace with the Headmaster.

"Yes, all instructors have been briefed, and the Grimm presence in the forest as not been altered in over a week. However…we have reports of a larg…" Their voices trailed off as they left, Thorne hovered casually into the car and activated it to take him to the top floor, finally arriving at the office. He kept cloaked as he continued over towards the desk, passing under and past the large array of cogs and clock parts, ever moving, but this was not Thorne's target. He hovered over the chair, and scanned the desk, and as he thought, it was a holographic projector as well, and a computer. He began his plan. He accessed the desks codes, his mind filled with more data then he could comprehend. While such a task would take hours for a human being, Thorne was able to explore them in less then ten seconds. While many of these were transcripts of students, past present and future, there were some things that proved to be a bit more interesting. He found several folders, all of which were password protected and behind some serious firewalls. All had some form of label to them, indicating what could possibly be held within said files, and all being related to chess. One of these were particularly ominous, "The Queen's God." Thorne decided that this was the filed he sought. He ran every password possible, and in several minutes passed through, but now he wished that he hadn't. In said document, Thorne was flooded with report after report, police, Huntsmen, and Huntress alike. These files, some of which were just over a decade old, and all of which, followed the same topic, Cronus. Though not named, photographic evidence and video showed that it was indeed the Vex monstrosity. The reports were accounts from all across Remnant, but the first of which took place in Vale…only a month before when Ruby had found Thorne.

"What is all this…" Thorne decided to delve further into the first report, he accessed it, and an image of a familiar face flashed in his mind. At first, he thought this was Ruby, but upon closer examination, he learned that this was not Ruby, but someone very close. He scanned through, digger further and further, each passing word was like being shot, dread was filling his core, guilt coursing all throughout the Ghost's systems, the same feelings that he tried to bury all those years ago being reborn in a new and horrifying light. Thorne almost overloaded, but snapped back into reality, he uncloaked, his shell lowered in weakness and his lense dimmed to nothing more then a faint flicker. "C-Cronus…" It burned to even say the sentence. "Cronus killed Summer Rose…Its because of me. I killed Ruby's mother."


	8. Chapter 8: Visons of Grandeur

**What's up everybody, it is I, M12R0R, here once again to present to you all the next chapter of Brightest in the Dark! What? Another chapter? Has it already been another six months. No sir and or ma'am, your eyes do not deceive you and you have not jumped to the future. I am uploading the next chapter just over two weeks later. I've felt bad for the time I did not upload so I've pulled...1 2 3...like 2 all nighters to get this out as quickly as I could. (All nighters to me apparently mean only just past 2 a.m.) Regardless, thank you all for the continuing and growing support. I love reading some of the comments and liking how some of you do know the lore of Destiny, questions about Ruby being like Shin Malphur and other stuff make me feel like the amount of time I'm putting into research is worth while. Believe it or not, I'm positive for every hour I write there is another set aside for strictly making sure my story follows the rules and logic of both universes, while also hopefully introducing elements of my own accord that play into it all and connects them perfectly. Also, I wanted to do some responses again to comments. Because I think its fun.**

 **Guest: SAINT-14 IS SPARE PARTS IN THE INFINITE FOREST! HE DID NOT MAKE THE CUT AND PERFECT PARADOX IS MINE! HAHAHHHAHAHA! (Not being mean I only kid.)**

 **BraveSeeker3 in regards to chapter 3: Yes, I meant Warlock, not Wizard, thanks for pointing that out.**

 **Wacko12: No, Summer was not a Guardian, Cronus has murdered Police, Huntsmen, and Guardians alike for years and as Thorne just learned, Cronus got her too, she was one of the many Huntsmen/Huntresses that fell to him.**

 **OnePunchPlayer: Look, I know you don't like Cronus but you can't just go threatening him like that he's a very testy boy and SUPER DE DOOPER powerful! For the Traveler's sake his text is BOLDED!**

 **Sooo, without my further ramblings of insanity, May I present you all with my latest creation! Also, yell at me for Grammar mistakes plz!**

* * *

 _I...it's my fault...I'm responsible for Ruby's mother's death."_ Thorne hovered dumbfounded. Even after only thinking for several minutes, attempting to make heads or tails of it all, it still was something that he couldn't believe.

 _Show me more! I need to understand all of this!"_ Thorne shouted in his head, trying to force the database to give him all the information he wanted. But just as he reentered, all of the info disappeared. The computer that made of the table shut down.

"No!" He audibly shouted this time. His voice reverberated all throughout the cog filled office.

 _I got stupid! I tripped the security systems!"_ Thorne knew he had screwed this up. He heard the elevator start up again, and he knew, someone was coming for him. He looked around, looking for some sort of exit. He considered the elevator again, but he figured that they may have a way trap him in it. He looked upward, past the cogs, and noticed an opportunity. A vent, for the ventilation system, one covered by a grate. Thorne flew up to it, studying it for a moment. He wanted to initially figure out a way to remove it quietly, but as the elevator car was getting louder and louder, he knew this wouldn't be an option. He heard the car beginning to slow, meaning it was soon on him. He backed himself into a corner, he there was no electronics that could aid the Ghost's escape. He thought about just waiting it out, but he knew the staff knew about him, and if they realized he was away from Ruby, the consequences for him and possibly Ruby could ruin all that they've worked towards. As he thought about Ruby, the "Lightbulb's" lightbulb went off, and he remembered the type of Guardian he was the Ghost for. Thorne sighed, knowing what he was about to do was stupid, but after this brief hesitation, he started into action. Thorne lowered his shell, not as an expression of emotion, but rather as a safety reinforcement. He backed up slightly, and using a burst of his Light, threw himself forward, ramming the grate with his own body. He clanged against the metal, dropping in height slightly, recovering a second later.

"Ow. Ow. Ow…OW!" He complained for a moment, but kept at his mission, Thorne backed up and looked at the progress he made, the grate stood strong, but there was the ever so slightest bend in the metal. This was enough encouragement to push him to keep going. He backed up and crashed into the grate several times. Eventually getting to the point where the grate had a baseball sized dent concaving the bars backwards. The elevator dinged, and Thorne reared back for one last burst. He completely covered his lense with his shell, making himself blind, but regardless he rocketed forward. In a massive crash, he busted through the vent, he opened his shell, and without stopping, continued down the metallic maze. The doors to the shaft opened slowly, but as soon as they were wide enough, Professor Goodwitch rushed in, her riding crop in hand. She searched around the room with her eyes, looking for any sort of intruder. Ozpin was also present on the elevator, but was much more cavalier in his entrance. He walked as if he wasn't paying much if any attention, but his eyes told a different story. They were as sharp as daggers, shooting from one thing to the next, searching for anything out of place. Everything at eye level was the same, except for the table being offline, but that was something that was known. However, once the Headmaster looked upward, his suspicions were confirmed. Past the gears that shifted with each passing second, there was a strange sight. He noticed one of the upper grates, used for ventilation, appeared to be smashed inward, the metal bent and twisted, and the bars that made it up were emitting a strange glow, a bright, almost a heavenly incandescence.

It did not take Thorne long to find an escape from the vents, and once he did, he wasted no time getting back down to Ruby, by the time he returned, all the lights of the hall were out, and it appeared like all students were asleep. In these situations, Thorne would normally activate his flashlight, but lucky for him, the night was clear, and the light of the shattered moon was just enough that he could find his way back. It took him a few seconds, but he pinpointed where she was, and slowly descended next to her. Guardians never sleep, they could if they so choose, but it was not a necessity. Thorne's Guardian never did, so he never had to deal with these hours upon hours of rest normal people needed, but staying attached to one for over a decade, Thorne has learned to cope with this free time. He took a look around, searching one more time to see if anyone was looking. Even seeing Yang sprawled out on her back, this close to snoring like a chainsaw. Once he confirmed he was clear he slowly revealed himself, trying to be as inconspicuous as he could. The Ghost managed to release nothing more than a slight glow. He looked Ruby over, the girl was taking up very little room of the sleeping bag, her legs being the only things covered. He was ready to place himself next to her for the night, but his hesitation grew like a fire, the information he learned in Ozpin's office made him rethink his entire relationship with her. Would she accept it and forgive him if he told her? Or would she banish him from her life, not wanting anything to do with the machine that supposedly ruined her life? His hesitation disappeared in an instant when he heard a soft and sweet whimper coming from the form in front of him.

"There you are." Ruby's voice was quiet as her silver eyes struggled to remain opened. A small smile worked its way across her face. "I was wondering where you went?" Thorne wanted to respond, but he couldn't make up any words to say to her. His mind was still on the horrific news. "What's wrong, you never see a girl clutching a Corgi pillow while see sleeps before?" He needed to say something, he couldn't just float there. He finally mustered up the strength.

"Every night actually. Sorry I took so long."

"Its okay, Yang was keeping me and half the others up with her snoring." As if planned, Yang let out a noise that could rival a boat engine. "See?" The two snickered a little, but holding back any real laughter to avoid waking anyone up. They both simultaneously checked again.

"I wish we didn't have to stay so quiet, that's hard, especially for us." Thorne saw that he needed to try to take his mind of the thoughts, and what was the best way for that, talking, no matter what it was, he needed this for now. Ruby shifted herself, propping herself up silently on her elbow. She put the pillow down, and with the other hand, grabbed the edge of the sleeping bag. She lifted the edge of it, revealing all the additional room she had.

"Ask and you shall receive." Ruby waited for Thorne to enter the dark willingly, but he just hovered, his shell making it look like he was raising a questioning eyebrow. Ruby pointed with her other hand, pointing a finger towards the opening. "Get in my hole."

"Uhh-?" Thorne wanted to acknowledge her choice of wording, but Ruby was not having it.

"Shut up, I know." She said with a blanked expression, pretending to not be amused. Thorne descended into the cotton filled cave. He dug his way in, only to be followed by Ruby, who was preforming a reverse butterfly, making it so she was curled up completely in the sleeping bag, her back being the only thing visible. Thorne flashed his light on, aiming it towards the ground so as to not blind Ruby, the latter of whom was looking crammed in her current state.

"You okay like that?" Thorne asked puzzled. Ruby assured she was fine as she rapidly nodded with a goofy smile, but this didn't last long. Concern furrowed her brow.

"Hey?" Ruby reached towards Thorne, grabbing hold of him and pulling him towards her. Thorne had flipped his light off, but it was replaced with Ruby reaching into her pajama pocket for her Scroll, turning its light on as a substitute. She focused it on his shell, and her concerns were solidified. "What happened to your shell?"

Thorne had no idea what she meant. So, Ruby went to her Scroll's camera and snapped a few photographs. Once she was done, she turned it to show him what she meant, the sight was shocking to the Ghost as well. His red shell, the one that Ruby handcrafted for him months ago, had seen better days to say the least. The red and black paint was scrapped away and scratched, even that spot engraved with his name, the paintjob was destroyed, and to top the cake, one of the four spikes that she added facing back was snapped in two, was now a stumpy reminder of what it once was.

"And I get into trouble when I'm by myself?" She spoke in a snarky tone. "You were gone for less than an hour and you get this beat up. What happened? What did you do? Who did this to you?" Their standard roles were reversed, Thorne could feel the irony in the air like the Light inside him.

"I…I was attacked by a bat, it…wanted to turn me into a vampire…" He did his best to be evasive.

"Thorne…" Ruby looked at him with a pleading gaze, but he did not want to reveal the where and what to her. So, he kept up the act.

"I ripped a tag off a mattress…I found out the cake was a lie…I wished to master the arcane arts…I had to run across Snake Way so I could learn the Kaio-."

"What? No, Thorne I'm serious. What happened?" Thorne knew that he couldn't lie to her, that he shouldn't, but he needed to keep her mom a secret for now. He would tell her in time, but not before possibly one of the biggest days of her life. He looked up to her.

"I snooped around…" He wasn't wrong.

"Define "snooped"?" Her eyes narrowed on him, piercing him to his core.

"Explored the campus, looked at the cafeteria…" Thorne spoke in a normal tone, but as he got to the last one, his voice shifted to a low mutter. "…hacked into Ozpin's terminal in his office…and had to bust out of the vent when someone came back." He panned his eye away from her, not noticing to sheer and utter bewilderment that overtook her.

"You did what?" She wanted to yell, but she muffled her voice down into a loud whisper. "Why?"

Her voiced returned to a normal hushed tone. This is where he knew he had to bend some truth.

"I was curious so I went into his files to see the bios on everyone you met today. The heiress, that book girl…JAUNE."He wasn't entirely lying, just being very selective, fact is, for a brief moment, he wanted to see what they all had to offer, all before he found the encrypted files.

"Oh, you mean my two new friends and my one enemy." Ruby said rolling her eyes. Her voice in a dead panning manner.

"Ah, so you made up with Weiss, tossed that boy Jaune to the side, and made friends with the book girl, Blake I think, good…good decisions." Throne nodded his shell up and down in self reassurance.

"Yeah it was Blake, she and I got off to a good start. No, I like Jaune, he's nice he's just like me…"

"So, you're a hormonally crazed teenage boy who vomited on the airship too…" He retorted back to her in a non-serious manner.

"…And no, there is still no progress with Weiss." She seemed upset by that last bit.

"Don't worry about her, its not like you'll be on her team." He tried to comfort his best friend, but it did not seem to be of any aid.

"Its not even that, I just don't like the idea of someone hating me." Thorne knew that this was something that really bothered he, he was about to speak again, his light in his lense even started to intensify in a pulse as if he was, but Ruby unexpectedly cut him off. "Hey Thorne…I know I gave you and Yang a hard time earlier, but I just want to let you know that I wouldn't have made it through the day without you specifically." She gently reached her hand out, her finger tips gently caressing the edges of his shell. The Ghost leaned his body into it, making it so over half his shell was enveloped by her cupped hand. His lense darkened for a moment, but shot open when a question came to him.

"What about Yang?" His shell lowered as he inquired looking up at her.

"She left us, remember? She deserved it"

"Right." He glanced over in Yang's direction, a muffled snore could be heard through the sleeping bag a person away from them.

"And also, just thanks, in general. For staying around, for helping me through everything, training, saving me…" Ruby's voice shifted to a very somber one.

"Woah, where is all this coming from?" He was rather caught off guard by this, it had been a while since they've had a serious heart to heart kind of conversation.

"I just was doing a lot of thinking lately, and I don't think I would have ever made it through…anything…without you by my side." She shifted her hand so that Throne was letting gravity take affect and she was now holding him up.

"Well, I don't know about that, you're an extraordinary girl. I'm sure that even without me, you be on the fast track to greatness. But regardless, thanks, I don't know if I'd even be around still if not for you."

"Thorne, I want to make you a promise, as soon as I graduate, we're going to find your Guardian." Her face was filled with a newfound determination.

"Ruby…" Thorne was speechless, this was something they had never talked about.

"And hey…who knows…maybe we'll find a way for you two to come and visit…between you two saving the universe that is." Her eyes started to glass over slightly. The edges of were welling up with tears.

"Ruby…thank you…but right now…I'm not going anywhere. As far as I can tell…" Thorne started to rise up from her palm. "I'm your Ghost, and you're my Guardian…figuratively speaking." Thorne hovered closer to her, seeing that she needed some comfort right now. She reached for him and closer to her. She wrapped him up in her arms, holding him like a stuffed animal, while he could not be further from that. It was a warmth, one that he had grown accustomed to over the years he has been with her. They laid there for a while "You're going to do amazing tomorrow."

He looked up to her, he could see her eyes were starting to dry up just a bit, but this was do to the fact that she was fighting the urge to sleep.

"You think so?" She spoke with a soft yawn afterwards.

"Absolutely. Hey, lets get you some sleep. You're going to need it." Her eyes were closed, but she nodded in agreement. She groggily shifted her body out of the sleeping bag. She entered into a similar position to when he first came back, but rather the Corgi pillow in her arms, Thorne was the one who replaced it. Within a minute, Ruby was out, Thorne took a little bit longer, contemplating the events of the last few hours.

 _This is going to be harder than I thought."_ Was the last thought he had before he took entered into a hibernation state, one that the Guardians and Ghosts developed as a form of meditation. He unconsciously cloaked himself, and waited for the morning's events to unfold.

* * *

The lab in which the Vex monstrosity had grown accustomed to in its time on Remnant was dark, all the machines and scientific instruments were either placed in standby mode or turned off completely. But a it normally happens, the lights and machines start going haywire, the veil between dimensions is lifted ever so slightly, and Cronus is able to slip through. It stood amidst the darkness, the glow from its eye illuminated everything. It looked to the doorway, and made its way for it.

The Vex was not a quiet one as it trudged through the great halls of twisted structure, it passed by several windows, the likes of which allowed for a maroon glow to pass through, jagged stone and violet skies were all that filled the horizon line, in the foreground were blackened pools that birthed horrid abominations that plagued humanity. It had grown fond of it all, giving it a solace as it thought of its next moves. It stopped for a moment, looking out as a Grimm Beowolf was crawling from the blackened ooze.

"Ah, it appears that you've returned, and how was you're little outing this time?" A familiar voice filled the audio receptors on the sides of the Vex's head.

 **Accomplished far more than expected, all thanks to our creations, Watts. Congratula-."** Cronus spoke before it turned, and when it did, it was met with two figures, one more then he expected. Watts was there, as thought, but next to him stood a being, one draped in black robes with powdery white skin. Her piercing eyes illuminated as she waited for it to continue speaking.

"No, Cronus, please by all means, this is a moment of celebration for you." The Vex dropped down to a knee, the tip of its scissor tapping the tile, its head bowed respectively, like how the Vex worshipped the Heart of the Black Garden.

 **My Queen, Salem, to what does your servant owe the honor."** The Vex was acting completely different, its attitude and cockiness escaped it. It now only spoke humbled words.

"Why don't you tell me, you've been busy lately." She gestured for it to explain the situation for itself.

 **I do so to serve your will."** It was avoiding the question.

"Then explain to me the "creatures" you and Watts manufactured." Cronus' head shot up and looked daggers at Watts, its eye illuminating immensely. "Do not place blame on Watts, he was only trying to help the cause, I SPECIFICALLY forbad you from expanding your Mind again." Salem began to walk towards Cronus, almost gliding across the floor at it. "And you go and create those imitations under the ruse of hiding them from me. Tricking me, is that about right, Cronus."

Cronus' lense dimmed as it looked up at Salem, who stopped right in front of it. She reached a hand out and grazed the edge of its fin, running it from the top slowly down to its eye. She had a slight grin to her mouth, an almost comforting, mother-like one.

 **No, my intentions were never to trick you, my Lady."** Cronus' eye was almost blacked out.

"So, its treason then…" Salem suddenly wrapped her fingers on the edges of the Vex's lense, and applying enough pressure that its eye began to crack, one for every finger, and they all met in the middle. "…You have done much for me in the years since you've first came to us. You've grown so much, it would be a waste to throw all that away in dismantling you now." The Vex remained silent. "Do you know what I am thinking?"

 **Unfortunately, I do not."**

"I am thinking that you are to keep your pets. You are to continue to do as you are, you preform best on a long leash, as we've learned. But deceive me again, and you will have more than a crushed lense to deal with." At the moment she applied more force to the Vex's eye, shattering the lense entirely and caving the metal around it inward, blinding the Vex and making it more then a simple repair. She turned away from Cronus, walking back from the direction she came. "Watts, see to it that is eye is repaired, bring him back to one hundred percent."

"Yes, my Lady" He spoke as she walked off behind him. The scientist looked back to the Vex, who had not moved an inch. He walked forward himself, he evened his moustache and extended a hand out to the Vex, but not to offer help. "Tell me, Cronus, does it look like my glove is tearing…oh wait…sorry."

Cronus swiped at the air, in an attempt to knock his hand away. The Vex clambered back to its feet and turned back down the hallway it came. Watts stood there and watched as it struggled by immediately running into a wall. Watts rolled his eyes and continued past the struggling Cronus.

"Just follow my voice." Cronus readjusted its course and did as Watts asked, and the two made their ways back to Watts' lab.

* * *

As the next day progressed, Thorne and Ruby's overall attitudes were very different. Ruby was probably the most excited she had been ever. It was like she swallowed a gallon of sugar, but she was showing no signs of crashing. She could not stop talking about it to Yang while they were prepping their weapons and equipment in the locker room. While Ruby and Yang started to fight over Yang not wanting her little sister on her team, Thorne stayed quiet, his meditation only mounting more and more stress on top of him. Flashes of the Vex monstrosity echoed continuously in its mind, its words stung with intensity, but he knew he could not say a word, he couldn't ruin this for her, especially with the complete one eighty she has gone through. It wasn't until the students were line up along a cliff, all standing on their own individual platforms, that Ruby finally took notice of his strife.

"Everything okay up there, big guy? You've been quiet all day." She was looking upwards, as if she was talking to the sky.

 _Uh…yeah, I'm okay sorry."_ His voice was very drawn and monotone.

"Hey, come on, I'm the one supposed to be nervous here." She poked fun at him, trying to elicit some sort of reaction from him that was positive.

 _You should quiet down a bit. People might think you're crazy."_ He still refused to change his pitch.

"Nah. Yang's on my left and Jaune is on my right…he's really nervous, he looks like he's about to…"

 _Vomit?"_

"Pretty much. Now come on, get excited. What could go possibly go wrong?"

* * *

 **(3.5 minutes later…)**

* * *

"…the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin said with a sort of smug smile on his face. All of Ruby's plans that she had made for coming up with some sort of team shattered into pieces.

"Whaaaat?!" Ruby exclaimed in protest, Thorne was not surprised, the ironic timing lately has been elevated higher than usual.

 _That. That could go wrong."_ He could not help but comment.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." Thorne could not believe how casual he is being with the type of words he was muttering. It was clearing getting to Jaune, who's nervous whimpers almost everyone could hear. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Jaune was of course filled to the prim with concerns, but ultimately had them pushed aside.

"Good! Now, take your positions." All of the students prepped themselves by entering into their own unique stances.

 _You sure you're ready for this. This doesn't seem very…safe."_ Thorne commentated as he watched the first of the students hurled up into the air in a slightly comedic fashion. _"I mean you guys don't even have lifts to break the fall, how are you supposed to stop. We never practiced something like this…"_

One by one, more students started to be mercilessly thrown skyward, forturnately for most this seemed like no bother. Jaune continued to pester the Headmaster, his anxiety attack only growing greater. As he did so, their numbers continued to dwindle from the cliff. A short pink girl with a war hammer, then a green ninja with dual submachine guns, then a brutish knight with a mace and a smug face, and it finally came to Yang. She looked over to her sister, winked and pulled out a pair of aviators, throwing them on as she too was thrown.

 _Oh, by the Light! Ruby! Slow down! Please!"_ Thorne continued after her, pushing his capabilities to their maximum in order to not lose her. Sparrows were one thing, hell even a ship out of orbit, but this was a whole other beast. By his estimates, he was doing at least, and Ruby was flying even faster than that, he could have even sworn she caused a bird to explode by accident. Thorne got close enough where she could hear him speaking in her mind.

 _Hit the brakes, child!"_ She at this point was in a diagonal nosedive, only a few dozen feet above the top of the trees' canopy. But she was apparently a step ahead of him. She flipped herself so her back was facing the ground, her cape and hood were flicking wildly in the as the air ripped by it. At some point in this she pulled Crescent Rose out and fired several rounds from it, somehow slowly her descent just enough. Thorne looked forward, seeing that all appeared fine.

 _TREE!"_ A carboniferous giant was on a direct collision course with her. But, continually too his surprise, Ruby appeared to know exactly what she was doing. Crescent Rose unfolded, forming into its scythe mode, she held it out, and like an old pro, she got it to wrap around the trunk, forcing her downward in a spiraling spin, one that Thorne was getting dizzy by just looking at it. He followed her down, now actually being able to stay by her side at this point. She got down three fourths of its trunk, before unhooking Crescent Rose, she flew downward and landed relatively easily. She was knelt down for a moment. Thorne flew to her side and uncloaked his body, scanning over her to see if she had any injuries.

 _I don't know how you managed to do that, what with the actual laws of physics and everything, but at least your o-."_ Before he could finish his sentence Ruby bolted forward, using her semblance to take off in a flash. _"Woah, slow down...again_!" He took off after her, deeper into the dark of the Emerald Forest. However, unbeknownst to them, a dark shadowy form shifted in the brush. The form took off in their direction, avoiding light, and using the dense thicket as its highway.

 _Ruby hold on! Whats the plan here?!"_ Thorne was fast, but Ruby's speed was something he could never hope to match. Aside from Dust and Aura, Semblances were something that he just could not make any real sense of. From their origins to how they are unique from person to person, it was all a foreign concept still to him. But nonetheless, all he needed now was for Ruby to hear him and stop. Luckily, she did. Ruby turned her feet to the side and dug them into the grassy dirt, bringing herself to a grinding halt. She turned, seeing Thorne lagging behind in the distance, and her face was growing with some impatience.

"Thorne, we have to hurry up, we need to find Yang. Or Jaune or Blake...Someone I know!" As Ruby explained the Ghost managed to reach her, even panting slightly through his mechanical voice, strangely considering he does not breathe.

"I know you would want to find someone you know, but we have to be careful just running straight through the forest. Ozpin said we'd meet opposition, we need to move with caution so we don't..." The faint sound of a tree snapping made Thorne stopped his sentence. He turned around, staring into the bushes where the noise came from. Ruby heard it too, and placed a hand onto Crescent Rose that sat on her lower back.

"Do you see anything?" Ruby whispered over to Thorne as she took a step next to his side.

Thorne scanned his motion trackers, he picked something up momentarily when the noise occurred, but both it and the sound disappeared.

"No, but there is something there, I'm sure of it." He glanced over to her, just to see if she was prepared, he then had to take a second glance, there was two trees with a bush behind her, with a slight gap between those, and just in the sliver of visibility, he caught a shift of the shadows.

"Ruby, behind you!" He shouted out as loudly as he could to alert her. Just as he spoke, the foliage he was watching parted, and from them lunged out a large black form, its sides covered in crimson glowing stripes. Ruby, leapt back, narrowly missing the extended claws of a massive paw.

The beast ghosted past Thorne, its landing was near silent as it exposed itself in its full glory. Its long, barbed tail swished back and forth, its upper back covered in a rib cage of bone plating, which then overlapped with a massive red stripes that extended its full torso and hind quarters. Its front legs had additional bone plating that had a central shimmering orb in its center, with two inward curved spikes that jutted from the top. Its legs were muscular, easily seen even through the density of its charcoal colored fur. Its head was covered in a familiar skull that eerily contoured to the head of the creature, as if the top half of it grew larger for the lack of tissue and hair. The bone of its mask was highly decorated, glowing red markings covering it in an almost regal form. Its eyes were spherical, but still seemed sharp, cutting into you like it was studying your every movement. The teeth that were fully exposed were long, knife-like canines, perfectly capable of collapsing the windpipe of almost anything. Its feline-like behavior was horrifyingly menacing when it came to a creature that size. A low, distorted growl reverberated throughout Ruby's body and Thorne's core. It turned to face them, barring its teeth fully with its ears back, lowering its head as it snarled with malicious intent. Ruby pulled her scythe around, extending it out fully, the process formed the big cat Grimm to shift its feet fiercely, its front paws sat widely as it watched her.

Thorne did not cloak, but remained high enough that the demonic cat could not reach. And seeing that it was essentially ignoring him, he spoke out loudly, scanning the appearance of the Grimm and properly identifying it.

"Ruby, careful, this thing is not like the other Grimm you've faced..."

* * *

Ozpin and Glynda stood overlooking the forest, from the ledge that they threw the new year students off. Both of them had tablets, each having various camera views of the different students, Glynda's was mainly comprised of a multitude of different students, Ozpin's, however, was primarily focused on two; a girl cladded in roman-like armor with a red, flowing ponytail, and the other was none other then Ruby and Thorne, the likes of whom were just encountering the first Grimm of the day. Glynda noticed this too, and enlarged the feed as well, focusing on this altercation.

"It looks like the young Ms. Rose has come across one of the unique Grimm that have entered the forest in the last few weeks. By the looks of it, it's a Saberian, sir. It's a surprise one migrated here all the way from Anima, just proves the lengths the Grimm would go to nowadays..." Glynda was speaking aloud, and Ozpin was listening, but adding little to the overall conversation.

"Mhhmmm." Was what his only response as he continued to focus on the video display.

"Well, at least it will be a good way of observing her and her "friend's" abilities when working together." Glynda continued, and Ozpin still spoke little as he continued to watch the standoff from the feed, fully enthralled by the situation.

* * *

The Saberian refused to take its eyes off of Ruby, staring her down as it paced around her, circling her for some sort of opening. Ruby stood broad, listening to Thorne's instructions from above. She remembered hearing about Grimm like this, but she never thought she would have to face them. She heard the stories, what the Saberian Grimm were capable of, so she stayed on her toes. She kept her body rigid, turning as the panther moved, not giving it the opportunity it was longing for. The Grimm's shoulders were raised, and it started to shuffle its back legs beneath its abdomen, as if it was preparing to make a sudden jump. Ruby shifted her hand higher on Crescent Rose, and on that it rushed her. It dashed to the side of her body that the head of her scythe was not, trying to avoid its massive blade. It reared its paw back and swiped at her, trying to graze her with its jagged claws. Ruby brought her scythe down, matching its paw, batting it away. She continued the sweeping motion, spinning her weapon around her body once, and on the second revolution shifted it vertically. She brought it down in an axe swinging motion, trying to strike it on the head. It backed its head up and the scythe struck the ground, and it lunged again, wrapping its jaws and forcing its teeth into the backside of the weapon's head. It snarled, saliva coating the weapon and the fiery glow of its insides shining like some sort of dulled flashlight. Ruby tried to pull her weapon away from it, and it stretched its claw out again, this time striking the handle of it, leaving some marks in the red paint. She then switched up her approach, she pulled the trigger on the sniper, a round erupted out, piercing the Grimm in one of its rib-like bone plating. The Grimm reeled back in pain, the round lodging itself in its back, black smoke pouring out from the wound. It bounced back, roaring violently at her, all its eyes and stripes growing in intensity. It looked back on its wound, and snarled as it did. The Grimm looked around at the trees above, and back at Ruby. Its eyes stayed locked on her, and it once again ran at her, she drew her weapon back, ready to block its attack again. But the Grimm did something unexpected. It took a sudden ninety-degree jolt to its right, and effortlessly scaled up the tree. One after another, it took bounding leaps, until it reached the one above her. Then it shifted its weight around, and pounced downward, using the trunk to launch itself. Ruby raised her scythe up, but the sheer weight of the Saberian proved to be overwhelming, it tackled her to the ground.

"Ruby!" Thorne shouted outward, watching as the black beast's body fully covered her own. The feline laid across her body, crushing her beneath its mass. Its front paws and teeth would be sinking into throat, but they were instead only scratching the hardened steel that made up the handle of Crescent Rose. Ruby used all her strength, trying to keep her only remaining defense up. She struggled, but any more force applied by her was negated by the Saberian's own. She tried to kick, but her legs were completely pinned. The Grimm pushed its paws down, trying to stand up over her. It pushed Crescent Rose's handle down onto Ruby, pushing it down onto her windpipe. The Grimm watched with enjoyment, its tail swishing back and forth as it watched her face change to a reddened state, it opened its jaws fully, preparing to fully engulf her head. It slowly lowered its maw, its canines were inches away from Ruby's eyes.

"Paws off!" Like a cannonball, Thorne shot his body forward, and right before impact, he spun himself around, ramming its spikes into the right eye of the Saberian. It forced it to lighten its pressure, allowing for Ruby to push back. Its paws shifted, sliding off the handle and onto the ground. Crescent Rose started to collapse into its travel mode, and making it more manageable in close range, she held it at her side, firing once more into its body, this forced the Grimm completely off of her. She rolled back, taking a knee and aiming her weapon at the Grimm again, this time unloading three additional rounds into its body. The Grimm still refused to go down, but it was clearly hurting. Ruby herself struggled to her feet, still trying to recover breath. She had a haggard look to her, wincing as she grasped at her abdomen. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah...I will be...I didn't get my Aura activated in time..." she pulled her hand away and looked at it, her palm was matching the red of her cloak.

"You're bleeding..." Thorne's lense widened with worry as he stopped over her abdomen. A series of cuts that was about equal to his length was stretched on the upper right side of her stomach. They were deep, but seemed like the blood loss was controllable.

"Its...okay its not fine...but we have to finish this thing off first." Thorne's eye shifted back to the Saberian, its intense raging stare was filled with hatred. Its right eye, the one Thorne attacked, was like a deflated balloon, smoke circulated in the socket, trailing upward and dissipating, other parts of its body had a similar smoke, and its left leg seemingly was struck with one of the Dust rounds, the Grimm refusing to put any weight down onto it.

"Okay..." Ruby fought through the sting of her cut, and threw Crescent Rose's head to the side, the scythe unfolded further, extending into a halberd-like state. The Grimm saw that she was ready to go again, and it let out a series of low growling noises. She drew the blade back; the Grimm barred its teeth once more. The Saberian reared back once more. It stood tall, and charged her in one final, desperate attempt. Ruby planted the end of Crescent Rose in the ground. It lunged forward at her, and she held her ground, the blade pointing in the direction of that the Grimm was coming. The force was immense as the cat impaled itself on the weapon, though it cried outward in pain, it forced its body further down. It swiped desperately at Ruby, who tried her best to keep the Grimm back. It snapped its jaws viscously doing anything it could to do damage. The blade exited from the back, causing it slide to the very base, its stomach getting caught on the hooks the lined the back of Crescent Rose's head. The Saberian drove its feet in the dirt, pushing its body as much as it could, the angle disabled any true use of its front legs, but it allowed for its jaws to be once again, inches from Ruby. Thorne darted by the side of her head, unable to really do anything but hope that the Grimm perishes. The hooks started to pierce into the feline, and then one final lunge forward caused them too to cut into it, it came at Ruby and Thorne mouth fully opened, being able for it to full fit Ruby's head into it, which it did. Ruby shit her eyes as her vision fell into the mouth of the Grimm, her eyes blinded by the eclipsing jaws. She shut her eyes, waiting for her head to be crushed, fortunately, it never came. Her eyes opened as the light in the Grimm faded away, and its body began to dematerialize into formless smoke and ashes. The Saberian's form was lost to the wind, leaving Ruby and Thorne to recover their thoughts and breathes.

"I don't want to be cliché and say "that was close", but that was close." Thorne joked as he stayed motionless by Ruby head, the fear forcing him still. Ruby laughed just for a moment before gritting her teeth in excruciating pain. She fell back, letting Crescent Rose fall to her feet. She gripped at her side, trying to stop the pain in a futile attempt. Thorne flew just barely at her side. He looked at the wound, and now that she was in still position and there was not a giant demon kitten, he could try to tell the extent of her injuries. He started a scan over her. His hope was soon quickly turning to dread.

"Your corset is blocking me, I can't see the wound, but it's the only thing that keeping you from bleeding out." He looked up to her eyes, and saw that she was straining to focus on him. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

"Thorne, it's okay, this is what I risk in this line of work, right?" Her eyes were growing watery. "Although...I thought I'd get at least five minutes in."

"Ruby, that's not funny..." He felt helpless as Ruby sat a little further up, he could see that the inside of her mouth was dyed a deeper hue of red. "...you know my Light can't heal you...it only works on my Guardian." She seemed like this was an answer she expected.

"I know, Thorne, and my Aura can't heal this kind of thing either...guess I bit off a little more than I could chew this time."

"Stop talking like that, I'm going to get you up, and we are going to finish this test..." Thorne seemed virtually beaten, lost on what to do. "...You have to live your life, it's not fair to you...y-you…you can't leave me alone." But before she could respond, Ruby fell backwards, her arms buckled out beneath her. Thorne panicked, he thought the worst possible outcome, but he could tell from their neural link that she was unconscious. This was relieving, but he still had to act fast. Thorne hovered above her, and extended his shell out, an orb of Light radiated around him.

"By the Traveler, please, let this work." Thorne looked down at Ruby and the orb of Light slowly lowered down into her. It infused in her skin, and Thorne began to release massive pulses of Light, bright enough that they could be seen from the cliffs, enough that it filled the darkest corners of the Emerald Forest, and enough that it felt like the shockwaves from a bomb were going off. "It has to work..." Thorne released as much Light as he could spare in one final blast, one that could be felt for miles around.

* * *

Cronus sat alone in the lab, its eye socket was restored by Watts and all that was left was replacing what was essentially a bulb. In its human-like hand it held an intact lense from a Goblin. Just as it was about to insert it, a strange feeling resonated in its core. It sensed an enormous release of Light, something that caused its Radiolaria to seep from its mouth uncontrollably. It was not close event by any means, but it still excited the Vex beyond belief.

 **Well, seems like things are going to get a whole lot more interesting…"** Cronus started to bark out a abhorred laugh, what sounded like multiple voices layering over one another, its twisted glee echoing through the halls of its queen's reclusive home.


End file.
